Mortal Instrument
by littleAliengrl
Summary: Jareth returns after three years to exact the greatest plan of revenge on Sarah. Will he make her his slave? His mistress? Or something more sinister? This time the stakes are much higher than losing Toby...
1. Prelude to a Dark Waltz

**A/N: Had to get rid of an old story that wasn't doing too well in order to upload this one. Sorry for those of you that liked Carved Into My Heart. I really felt that this was necessary since I've been dying to upload this for ages. I don't even know why I chose now of all times. I'm juggling four stories right now, I must be insane. Ah, well, hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

_"You make it easy to love you and hate you. I can't explain it, I feel insecure. Say it simple: 'You die just to live again.' You say we're waiting for the last waltz. Another you and me. Another revolutionary heavenly romance. Waiting for the last waltz. And so it seems we won't find the solution. Confusion leads the dance. We're waiting for the last waltz." ~ Last Waltz- The Rasmus _

**Mortal Instrument**

_Chapter 1: Prelude to a Dark Waltz_

Mellow music floated through the room that was cluttered with books and other knick-nacks. The lyrics had a sweet, nostalgic atmosphere to it, describing a girl who was trying to stop living inside a fantasy. Sarah stumbled over her pile of dirty clothes to get to her bureau. It was cluttered with bottles of perfume and make up that she had begun using two years ago, compliments of her stepmother. She sat in front of her mirror, running a brush through her long ebony hair, humming in tune with the song. She twisted her hair into a braid that fell against the arch of her back.

Sarah opened her drawer and looked for her journal full of famous quotes of authors, actors and people throughout history she admired. She jotted down a new quote she had heard in a movie she had gone to see recently. The journal went practically everywhere with her, especially her drama class. She had wanted to be an actress since she was fifteen, and had gotten all the practice she could get by auditioning for commercials and being an extra in movies. After she finished high school this year, Sarah intended to finally leave home and pursue her career at an acting school. Her father insisted she go to a local college to keep her as close to home as possible, but her step-mom said that it was high time for her to leave the nest; to get a taste of the world herself.

Sarah suspected that she just wanted her out of the house simply because she was the only one in it she had no power over. That and she probably planned on turning her room into some kind of work out room. She cringed at the idea of her step-mother doing aerobics in her room. She felt bad having to leave her four-year old brother Toby in her clutches. There suddenly came a knock at her door, startling Sarah out of her train of thoughts. She turned to see- speak of the devil, the one who took residence in her thoughts. She smiled when she saw Toby poke his head in with his Yankees baseball cap slipping over his eyes. Merlin followed in close behind him, panting and wagging his tail excitedly.

"It's time for dinner," Toby gurgled.

Sarah walked over to him and scooped him up into her arms. She bounced him lightly on her arm, and giggled when he clutched her tightly and rubbed his cheek against hers like a spoiled cat. She petted Merlin's head who pawed at her leg for attention. Closing the door behind her, she began leading them down the stairs. Toby tugged at Sarah's blouse insistently and pointed at the stair rail. Sarah blinked and reluctantly shook her head at this. Irene frowned upon them sliding down the stair rail, saying that Toby could get hurt and that Sarah was much too old to be doing childish things. Then again Irene frowned upon many things.

At Toby's look of disappointment, Sarah leaned down and whispered in his ear. "Maybe later."

This brought a smile to Toby's face, stressing the adorable dimples peeking out from his cheeks. He slipped his hand into Sarah's and led them to the table as if wary of them getting lost even when the table was right in front of them. The smell of tacos made Sarah practically salivate, and bitterly thought that her step-mother couldn't cook to save her life. That was the reason Sarah hadn't learned to cook for herself- that and she was always very clumsy when it came to ingredients. That's why most nights, the Williams had to order take out or eat microwavable food.

Once they neared the table, Sarah set Toby down on the chair next to her. They tried keeping their backs straights, and their arms from touching the glass table. Toby's mom could be quite picky about leaving fingerprints on the glass. Sarah helped herself by adding tons of cooked onion onto her plate. She giggled when she felt Merlin prodding his wet nose against her bare feet and squirmed away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Toby struggling to pick up his taco while keeping the meat and cheese inside. Sarah wrapped up his taco and held it out to his mouth. He took hearty bites, grinning as he rolled up his own taco and brought it up to his mouth. Sarah had started chugging down her Sprite, and caught sight of her step-mother over the rim of her cup who was staring at her.

"Dear, slow down or you'll choke. You have to be more mild mannered when you meet Dave," she said, taking a bite out of her taco.

Sarah's eyes widened. "_Dave?_" She turned to glare venomously at her dad. "Dave, dad?"

Robert cleared his throat and looked away. "Erm- Irene has arranged for a get-together for a boy your age."

"What? Not another blind date," Sarah groaned. "I've already told you that I'm perfectly capable of getting a date on my own."

"Oh, really now? Then care to tell me when your last date was?" Irene interjected.

Sarah sniffed disdainfully. "No one at school has caught my attention and I've got much more important things to do like studying, working on my acting and applying to a college."

Her stepmother seemed to briefly shoot a knowing look at Sarah's father before returning to her food. Sarah narrowed her eyes at this and clenched the arms of her chair with barely contained anger. Her green gaze fell on Toby who was awaiting to be fed his next taco, oblivious to his sister's resentment toward her stepmother. Sarah rolled one of her tacos and held one out to Toby as she continued to stare disbelievingly at her parents.

They were always deciding things without her consent. She didn't _date_. She didn't _want _to date. There were better and much more practical things she could be doing with her time. Like spending time with her friends from the Labyrinth for one thing. Sarah was deeply worried that she hadn't heard a word from Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo in nearly a month. Normally whenever she was feeling desolate or frustrated, they would pop into her room and attempt to console her. Something important must've been going down in the Labyrinth. That was the only explanation as to why she hadn't seen or heard from her friends.

Chewing thoughtfully on her taco, Sarah didn't seem to notice the idle chatter that was going on between Irene and her father. She could hear her name being brought up a few times in their conversation, but Sarah didn't pay them any attention as she was caught up in one of her usual daydreams of her past adventures with the Labyrinth. Sometimes it had seemed like just a dream as if the whole event had been some fairy tale conjured up by her own subconscious. Yet, the constant visit of the creatures of the Labyrinth as well as the red leather book entitled the _Labyrinth_ sitting on her desk were a constant reminder of her quest.

She realized that she had come a long way from the selfish fifteen-year old she once was. Sometimes she wondered how she could have ever possibly wanted to wish Toby away. Looking at him now, Sarah felt no ounce of hatred or disdain for her little brother. Quite the opposite, she adored him and enjoyed playing with him whenever she had the chance to. Sometimes he would act with her as she rehearsed for an upcoming play.

More than anything, acting felt very right for Sarah. She had already made up her mind that she would be just like her mother, Linda. While only a moderately known actress, Linda did well for herself. Sarah owned most of her movies that her mother had come out in, even if she only played a supporting or cameo role; she studied her acting, her very presence, her movements. Sometimes she would end up forgetting to observe, and end up mesmerized by her mother's performances.

"Sarah!"

The said girl jolted upright as she realized that her family, including Toby who was tugging on her blouse for another taco, were all staring at her. Rolling another taco for Toby, she glanced up at Irene and her father apologetically.

"Sorry, what were you saying?"

Irene sighed. "Always a daydreamer..." She snapped her fingers twice as if to awaken her. "You need to get on the ball, Sarah. I was asking you if you were planning on going to prom.

"Umm...Prom is still months away," Sarah pointed out. "I think I'll just skip it, I think I've got a play that day, anyway."

"You've been in plenty of plays. Prom is a right of passage. You can't just..." Irene seemed to struggle with her words as she made vague gestures. "_Skip_ it," she spat out.

Sarah shrugged. "I'll think about it." If only to shut her up.

"Sweetheart." Robert cleared his throat, his eyes watering a bit as he struggled to swallow his taco. "You know my new job will involve traveling, right?"

"Yeah..." she said slowly, carefully. Alright, the night had gone from bad and was heading toward worse. She could feel it. "Why? Are you going anywhere soon?"

God knows she wouldn't be able to stand being alone with her stepmother for months. Robert smiled at her as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. His eyes had lit up like Christmas and he seemed eager to carry out whatever he wanted to say.

"Actually, I've been thinking and it would be lonely not having my favorite girls and man of the house with me." He grinned at his family. "I want you all to go with me. Sarah, I know we had agreed not to move anywhere until you graduated," he said, quickly raising a finger to silence her. "...but I think this would be good for all of us. There's no reason you and Toby can't continue your education in London. There's an incredible Victorian manor I've bought for us. Not only was it an incredibly reasonable price for a house, it's also a place I can see us raising Toby in." Robert gave Irene a loving look and clasped his hand over hers'.

_Oh, gag me with a fork. _

Sarah was beyond horrified that her father would make such a random and spontaneous decision. Her eyes blinked rapidly as they fought to catch up to what had been said within the last few minutes. Between her stepmother's cries of joy and Toby's wailing for more food, Sarah's mind was quickly spiraling into an abyss of distress.

"London?"

"I know it's very sudden but I promise you'll like it, Sarah. If things go the way I hope, we'll be leaving in about a week."

"W-what about my date with Dave?"

Irene gave her a bittersweet smile. "You said you were opposed to being set up on a blind date earlier. Also, it just so happens that Dave is attending university in London. It saves him the trip of coming to meet you here."

If Sarah had claws, she would be diving half way across the table and gauging Irene's eyes out by now. Stepmothers...some mean well and have a shitty way of showing it while others were doomed to be scorned forever in the eyes of their step kids. No matter how close they are, no matter how much they say they love you, it's not the same as being their blood. The fact was that Sarah and Irene would never see eye to eye. For Robert's sake if nothing else, Sarah tried to tolerate Irene. For a moment, Sarah remained silent as her eyes caught her father's, pleading with him to change his mind.

"I have an idea!" Irene clapped her hands together. "Why don't we host a party when we get there? It would be wonderful. That way Dave and Sarah can meet."

Oh, Sarah had seen this one coming a mile away. This was just an excuse to invite all of Karen's friends and show off. Not to mention splurging on her father's credit cards for ridiculous gowns that she only ever wore once. She shook her head, feeling a ginormous migraine coming on. She slid her plate toward Toby who happily gobbled it up. Pushing her chair backward, she spun around and started walking toward the stairs. Mumbling a half-hearted good night, she started up the steps in hopes that Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo would be waiting for her in her room.

They had promised, after all, that they would appear to her whenever she needed them. _Always, always_, she silently said to herself, _she would always need them._ Sarah's hand faltered on the door knob, her heart thudding loudly in her ears. She pushed the door gently open, and stuck her head into her room. Nothing. Not a hint of glitter or confetti -usually present around her friends- was anywhere to be found. Sarah sighed as she trudged toward her bed and sat down, hugging Sir Lancelot to her chest. She would have to leave him behind with Toby when she went off to college in the fall.

Except for a select group of people in the drama club, Sarah wasn't very social with other people. There really was nothing holding her back from moving to another country. It might be exciting to live in London. The downside being that she would have to endure being played like a puppet by Irene while being there. Still, this was the house that she had grown up in. It wasn't that easy to leave but apparently her father didn't think so. They had so many memories in this house and yet that's all they were to him...just memories. Her father had said that they would be leaving next week. She wouldn't even get to do her last play before she left.

* * *

Sarah jolted upright from her dream when Toby shifted around uncomfortably on her lap. Her hands clutched the seat beneath her tightly before finally relaxing around her new environment. Her dream had been so vivid that she pondered if it really came from the bowels of her imagination. In it was a white owl that was peering at her through the window of the airplane she and her family had traveled on. It was holding something small and shiny in its beak. It kept pecking at the window without ever dropping the object. Just as Sarah was sliding the window down to let it come in, she had suddenly woken up. The owl had looked identical to the owl Jareth had transformed into when they had first met. It had been a long time since Sarah had had any dream of the Goblin King. His image from their final moments together were firmly imprinted in her mind.

He had offered her everything but she had rejected it all in favor of going home with her baby brother. At that time, Jareth had made it all seem so tempting for her and for one unspeakable moment, she had thought about throwing her life away and staying there. Sarah still shivered at the memory of his words every now and then.

_Just fear me, love me, do everything I tell you to do and I will be your slave._

Such words were had sounded as if they were enlaced with love but that wasn't possible. Sarah had since convinced herself that Jareth had said those words to trick her so that he could keep Toby. He had put it in such a strange way. How in the world was it possible for someone to fear and love someone and yet get everything you desire at the same time? Fear wasn't supposed to exist within love. Sarah snorted. But it's not like the Goblin King himself would know that. He was far too cruel to ever comprehend something like love. Holding Toby gently against her stilled her thoughts of hatred, and transformed it into something much more pleasant. Only her little brother could bring her to such a calm and soothing state.

Of course Toby wasn't aware of this power he had over everyone. Except for occasional tantrums, he was truly a blessing to have around. Sarah chuckled at the image of what a Goblin King he would've made if Jareth had had his way. He certainly would've been handsome once he grew up as well as kind and just. The exact opposite of Jareth. Toby would definitely have treated the poor goblins much better and even play with them. He certainly did have a blast when Hoggle, Sir Didymus, Ludo and the other goblins that appeared in her bed room...when they used to appear in her room.

Sarah bit her chapped lips at thought of her dear friends. What had happened? What was going on in the Labyrinth? Would they be able to find her in London? She needed them...even now that she was technically considered a grown up. Even now when her mind was clouded up with things like school and acting, she needed them for no reason at all. It might've been selfish but she still hoped they would continue to stand by her and vice versa. She worried her lower lip at the prospect of not having them in her life anymore. It would be just like how practically nonexistent her mother was. Just like how everything good in her life always had to fade away.

"We're here!" Robert chirped. He glanced behind his seat to face...the all too gloomy faces of his children. His grin fell. "Come on, it's beautiful. Take a look for yourself."

Sarah didn't hear half of what he said as she jolted out of her melancholy after a few moments. She undid her seat belt and settled Toby off of her lap onto the seat beside her. Toby's chubby hand gripped the handle and kicked the door wide open. All at once, a gust of cool wind hit Sarah, making her hair fly about her like dark feathers. She hesitated for a moment before sliding out of the car after Toby. Upon landing on solid ground again after the seven hour flight, she noticed for the first time how bleak the sky was. It looked as if the sky was having a hard time deciding between raining or staying cloudy. She and Toby stared up at the large, looming Victorian manor in wonder. Sarah grabbed their luggage out of the car, and began hauling them toward the mansion.

Beyond the spiked iron gates there was a vast yard spread out in emerald green with yellow rose bushes growing on either side of a stone path. They were greeted by a marble fountain that was spouting water while birds merrily sipped from its spout. The mansion was white and spacious, with many glass windows peeking out, framed by blue shutters. Two large oak trees stood on either side of it with gnarled white branches and red-goldish leaves clinging to them. The shadows of the branches seemed to be looming out toward Sarah as if beckoning her to come into the shadows. At some trick of the light, the bark on the trees seemed twisted into many dark expressions.

"Sarah, come help me with this," Irene said, sounding winded from all the baggage she was hauling.

After one last glance at the trees, Sarah trotted up beside Irene and took a few bags off her. She thrust them over her shoulder, not daring to take another look at those trees again.

* * *

Robert had specifically said not to go wandering around, but how could Sarah stand around while there were hundreds of rooms in the house that had yet to be explored since the last keepers of this mansion? With Toby keeping a firm grip on her pinky, they walked aimlessly at the bend of every corridor. The dim lights overhead cast ominous shadows that seemed to follow them wherever they went. There were rows and rows of mahogany doors on either side of them with a long scarlet carpet with many intricate patterns of birds and flowers on the floor they walked on. The carpet seemed to flow endlessly as they took a left.

Sarah stepped close to one door and twisted the bronze knob. It easily opened and out blew warm air from within the ancient room. Blindly reaching out for a switch, her finger flipped it and the room was soon pouring light in to reveal the delight that it had to offer. There was a large blue canopy bed that rested in the center of the room against the wall with a red polished bureau. There were shelves of books from wall to wall with vases of wilting flowers perched on top.

Both of them stepped into the room, parting pinkies as they explored the room. Sarah's hand ran the length of the dusty bureau, before pausing in front of its oval-shaped mirror. Around it was a wreath of metal roses clinging to its edges. There were bottles of perfume and a few cases of powder littering the bureau. Her hand laid flat against the mirror before gently wiping away the dust that had been there for who knows how long. Soon her image shined into view and she flattened the wisps of hairs on top of her head. London's wind had not been kind at her arrival. She picked up a bottle of perfume- empty, of course- but as she lifted it up to her nose for a whiff, there was a slight lingering scent of mint and honey suckle.

The brief sweet smell reminded her of the Goblin King that struck a cord in her at the very thought. Horrified, Sarah placed the bottle of perfume down and glanced over her shoulder to see Toby jumping up and down on the dust-covered bed. He giggled as he turned her way, and leapt at her so hard it knocked the wind out of her. A smile graced Sarah's lips as she bounced up and down momentarily before setting him down on the ground. Scanning the room quickly, Sarah nodded in approval. It seemed suitable and practical enough to reside in. A cluttering sound beneath the bed startled Sarah. She grinned when she saw Toby's sneakers stick out from under the bed, clapping the soles together as he hummed beneath the bed. She grabbed his ankles and slid him out from under it.

Toby was in a fit of giggles as he tried to worm his way out of Sarah's grip. Sarah's smile faded when she saw the box that her brother had cradled against his chest. She let go of him and pointed at the box, giving him a look of question. Toby sat up with his back against the bed and settled the box on top of his lap. When Sarah beckoned for him to let her see, Toby appeared hesitant before obliging and handing it to her. She blew the dust off to reveal a black rectangular box with gold trimmings. She flipped open the lid to reveal a myriad of items such as a rhombus-shaped pendant with a faceted sapphire at its center. Rhinestones fringed the area around the sapphire and a pearl drop hung from the tip of it. There was also a white-gold plated ring with three amethyst stones as well as a heart-shaped topaz ring.

There were a couple of brooches along with a few other gaudy necklaces but what really caught Sarah's attention was a simple silver ring with a moonstone at its center. It caught the light, and lines of rainbows dances across its ivory surface. Sarah bit her lip as she suddenly felt guilt over going through someone else' belongings. Glancing down longingly at the ring, she looked at Toby who stared blankly back at her. She supposed it wouldn't hurt if she simply tried it on. It slipped easily onto her fourth finger on her right hand, and she held it high to examine it better. She smiled at the beauty and simplicity of it.

"It's pretty," Toby told her, crawling onto her lap for a better look. "Why don't you keep it?"

Sarah shook her head heartbreakingly. "I can't...it belongs to someone else."

"Finder's keepers."

"Oh, Toby, when did you become so bad?" Sarah demanded playfully, grabbing his sides and mercilessly tickling him. She stopped suddenly when she could hear Robert's voice calling them from down stairs. "Coming!" she hollered.

She picked Toby up into her arms, frowning when he tried to wiggle out of her grasp. Toby pressed his back to her front and settled his sneakers over her converse. It was quite a long way back from where they had come, but Sarah had kept track of every turn they had taken. She joked about having to leave bread crumbs to find their way around from now on. Toby snickered at this and clung tightly to Sarah's wrists as he tried to keep his balance on her shoes. Sarah glided down the stairs in time to see her stepmother standing in the center of the ball room talking animatedly into her cell phone. Robert met her at the bottom of the steps, clasping his hands together, looking cheerful and refreshed as always.

"You guys hungry?"

"Ravenous," Sarah stated.

Toby raised his hand as he hopped off of Sarah's shoes. "I vote for pizza."

Robert laughed lightly. "Alright, pizza it is then. Let's finish up the packing tomorrow, Irene and I are exhausted from the trip."

"But not too tired to host a party?" Sarah asked dryly. "Come on, dad, we just got here. Do we really want strangers coming in just for the free food?"

"They're not strangers, they're family and friends."

Irene suddenly snapped her cell phone shut and walked over toward them. "This is so exciting," she said, anticipation practically rolling off her shoulders. "We'll have to get you a new dress, Sarah."

"I don't want a new dress," Sarah mumbled.

Irene continued as if she hadn't heard a word. "We'll go shop for one tomorrow and then-" She cut herself off upon glimpsing at the ring on Sarah's finger. "...Where did you get that?"

Sarah glanced down at her hand, surprised to see she was still wearing the moonstone.

"Oh..." she said in wonder. "I found it in a bedchamber I chose as my room."

For one envious moment, Sarah wondered if Irene thought to take it from her by the look of sudden interest she had. The dazed look on Irene's face wore off after a moment and smiled at her.

"It's not a very valuable gem but its been here for years so you might fetch a good price for it," Irene explained, clasping her hand over Sarah's, her thumb rubbing the moon stone. "It practically a historic item, surely rich men who collect antiques such as-"

Sarah held up her hand to silence her, noting the look of annoyance blatantly displayed on her face. The ring was truly remarkable. It's milky white and smoky gray depths mesmerized her and pulled her into its silvery-blue center. Just as she was barely able to part with it, she could just imagine how the previous owner would be just as protective of it.

"I was just trying it on and forgot I still had it with me. I don't think it should be sold."

Irene shrugged one shoulder. "Do whatever you want, Sarah. I should probably scavenge around this house and see what I can find to auction off."

Sarah gave her a withering look as she walked past her. She sighed as she gave the ring one last hopeless look before depositing it into her pocket. She headed toward the dining room to give it a good clean up before the pizza arrived. Despite her determination to keep herself busy, she was feeling sluggish at the thought of going shopping with her step-mother the following afternoon. Toby fell into step beside her, curling his pinky around hers' as they walked together.

* * *

"How about this one? Oh, this looks just ravishing on you, dear."

This had been the eighth dress she had tried on. Why couldn't they just choose one and go but nooo not with Irene raving on and on on how each dress looked _ravishing _on her. She looked so awkward in this light yellow dress. It was too tight around her hips and there were way too many frills. Sarah shook her head grimly and stepped back behind the curtain before she could let Irene say anything else. She changed back into her red tank top and her orange poet shirt with jeans. She strolled back out and started looking through the racks of clothes on her own while Irene went in search of her own gown.

She chose two decent-looking dresses and went back into the changing room. The first one she tried on was a teal ball gown. It was made of the finest satin and there were silver beads scattered here and there on the bodice. The lace-up back was done in a wide ribbon ending in an abundant bow that draped down the back. Sarah took it off in favor of the second gown, feeling herself flush when she put it on. It was an iridescent blue-black taffeta with full lining and spaghetti straps. It was quite different from the ball gown she had worn at Jareth's masquerade but still very beautiful. It reminded her of a coming-out sort of gown for a princess.

Sarah changed back into her clothes, and draped the dress over her arm and was making her way toward the register when Irene caught her arm. She smiled at her as she spun around in her floor length clingy, black halter top dress.

"Do you like it?"

"You look beautiful in anything," Sarah replied. It was true, Irene had a really odd body. She could fit into anything, wear a sack, and still end up looking glamorous somehow.

Irene smiled. "Really? Do you think I should take it?"

"Yeah, its really pretty."

"Oh, you can be so sweet, Sarah. Let's see what you've got here." Irene gently pried the dress from Sarah's hands, and her mouth opened in awe and approval as she stared from the gown to Sarah. She nodded proudly back at her as she gave it back. "How lovely," Irene exclaimed. "I'm sure you'll impress Dave tonight."

Sarah's face fell at the mention of Dave. She had nearly forgotten him in her _excitement_ of buying the dress.

Irene sighed. "Don't look so put out. Honestly, I wouldn't be introducing him to you if I didn't think he was a decent boy." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and scrutinized Sarah's wary expression. "It's good to fall in love every now and then...isn't it?"

Sarah shrugged as she took back the dress and draped it over her arm once more. She waited patiently outside of the dressing room until Irene came out with the dress hanging on its hanger once again. They paid for their dresses and discussed where they would be having lunch. Sarah suggested Chinese while Irene was in the mood for Italian. There was just no winning with this woman.

"How about just regular old Subway?" Sarah suggested. "It's cheaper."

"Good idea."

They were now walking along the sidewalk and stopped at a red light. Sarah held her shopping bag in front of her with both hands as she rocked back and forth impatiently. Her stomach had been non-stop growling throughout the whole shopping ordeal. It might've been because of Irene serving a light meal, telling Sarah that she shouldn't eat too much before putting her dress on and that they needed to get to the store early if they hoped to find anything with discounts. Sarah's mind focused on the stop light that seemed to taking far too long for her liking. As soon as that thought flew through her mind, the green in her eyes flashed and the wind swept her hair behind her dramatically.

The lights on the stoplight began flickering, changing from one color to another as if it couldn't make up its mind. It settled on green and just as the crowd behind Sarah was about to shove forward, a van came whirring by and crashed into a station wagon. The little car spun and spun until it smashed through a shop window. Glass and debris went flying everywhere, echoing along with the sound of people screaming and sprinting off.

"My goodness," Irene breathed. She rifled through the contents of her purse and pulled out her cell phone. Urgently dialing in the numbers, she spoke into it and said, "Hello? There's been an accident in Time Square-

Sarah couldn't hear the rest since her eyes were glued on the seen before her. She felt her breathing become irregular and her knees suddenly felt like gelatin. They gave way onto the concrete. What had just happened? There was no way she herself could've possibly caused an accident like that...right?

* * *

"You haven't touched your food, Sarah," Irene said, taking another bite from her sub sandwich. Her eyes widened after a moment of carefully observing Sarah. "Goodness...you're in shock."

Irene dumped her purse on the table and took out a Hershey bar and slid it across the table toward Sarah. She slowly brought her head up to meet her step-mom's gaze, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"Eat. It helps," she insisted. "...You've really never seen an accident before, have you?"

Sarah shook her head. "No...but it's fine. No one got hurt so that's a good thing."

Not completely comfortable with Irene's overbearing stare, Sarah unwrapped the chocolate bar and slipped it between her teeth. The crunchy chocolatey goodness made her sigh. As she finished it off, she saw her sandwich untouched and took small bites as she contemplated the previous events. It had been strange how the lights had suddenly changed when she had thought it, but she couldn't have been the only person in a hurry.

Sarah jolted upright when she felt Irene tap her shoe with her own. "Huh? What's up?"

"That man across the room is staring at you," Irene whispered crossly, her eyes carefully trained on the food in front of her.

"What?"

Just as Sarah was about to look over her shoulder, Irene grabbed her and turned her back to face her. "Don't turn around, you silly girl."

Sarah blinked. "I don't see what the big deal is."

"He's been staring at you since you walked in. He must be at least ten years older than you," she said, disgust dripping in her tone. "Why can't men find girls their own age instead of praying on little girls like you?"

Sarah felt a twinge of anger. "I'm not a child anymore."

"Being eighteen doesn't make you an adult, Sarah. It just means you get more responsibility. You may be of age to date or even marry a man that old but I wouldn't recommend such a life."

"What does he look like?" Sarah asked, not quite able to hide her curiosity.

Irene frowned. "He's a rather tall man with shoulder length blonde hair. It's slicked back and he's in a dark suit with reading glasses." A sudden smile graced her lips. "He's actually quite handsome now that I get a good look at him."

"What's he doing?"

"The strangest thing...he's drinking _wine_," Irene said, shaking her head in disbelief. "We're in Subway for God's sake. Who would bring such expensive-looking wine into a fast-food restaurant? The rich are unbelievable."

Sarah giggled. "Maybe it's a way of demonstrating their wealth and power."

"Whatever the case, I don't like the way he's looking at you. Eat your sandwich as we walk. I won't have your father thinking I'm the reason you're so scrawny."

Sarah rolled her eyes as she wrapped up her sub sandwich and grabbed her shopping bag. Just as she was about to follow her step-mother out of the restaurant, curiosity pecked the back of her head and she had to turn around to see what the mystery man looked like for herself. Her eyebrows rose as high as the McDonald's golden arches when she saw no one sitting in the booth. There was however, a bottle of wine and an empty glass left behind. She shrugged to herself before hurrying to catch up with Irene's long strides.

A sudden shift in the air made Sarah stop and glance around her. A dark, looming shadow made Sarah look up sharply only to find a snowy white hovering above her. It circled her twice before flying off into the distance. Sarah blinked after a moment. Too many weird things were happening today. First that freak accident in Time Square, then that man who was apparently staring at her, and now an owl was flying around in the middle of the day. Aren't they supposed to be nocturnal? Sarah shook her head, feeling the day's exhaustion and craziness take over her mind and body. No matter how much she wanted to lay down and rest, Irene was dead set on having the party tomorrow night on Halloween.

* * *

Sarah sat in front of her vanity mirror in her blue dress, attempting to gather her hair into a bun. She sighed after a moment and let the wave of curls cascade down her shoulders. There was simply nothing she could do with it. She unscrewed the top of a burgundy lipstick and held it to her lips, recalling as she used to watch her mother put on her make up before getting ready for a big show or audition. It had been nearly two months since she had last heard from her mother. That had been on her eighteenth birthday. She had sent her a musical birthday card along with a bouquet of roses from Jeremy. She remembered the night of her play she had invited her mother to come see her perform.

As it turned out, inside the birthday card was more of an apology than an actual birthday wish. It hadn't been the first time her mom had let her down. Sarah understood that things came up, but she had always hoped that her mom would see her perform at least once. Her father told her that instead of following in her footsteps, she should become something more sensible like a lawyer or a doctor. But honestly, Sarah couldn't picture herself performing surgery or defending people in a court room. She couldn't imagine being happy doing either. Somehow her place had always been on stage, whether she was playing a small or significant role.

Though Robert would talk down about her mom, sometimes she felt as if he was saying it more out of regret than spite. Perhaps that was the reason Irene and her couldn't get along. She probably felt insecure about her father's feelings for Linda. She remembered that every year up until her fifteenth year, whenever she would blow out the candles on her cake, her wish would always be the same; for her mom and dad to get back together. Eventually, she figured out that they could never go back to the way they were. Betrayal can scar a relationship very deep. Now Sarah knew that Robert had found his perfect match with Irene even if she didn't like it.

They suited each other somehow. They were both very into their careers, serious, intelligent, sophisticated. It frightened Sarah when she would catch a glimpse of the ardour of their love whenever they looked at one another. It was as if there was no one else in the world. They loved each other, it was as simple as that and yet it was more. It scared her because she wasn't sure she could ever love someone so intensely like that. Sarah was interrupted from her trail of thoughts at the sound of the door creaking open. Toby poked his head in, his hand covering his eyes.

"Sarah, are you decent?"

Sarah giggled. "You can come in Toby."

Toby allowed two fingers to slide down from his eyes, and they lit up when they saw Sarah dressed up. He walked toward her with his tousled blonde locks and horribly done bow tie. Sarah reached out for him and placed him on her lap.

"You look like a princess," Toby said.

"And _you _look like a train wreck."

Toby shrugged. "I wouldn't let mom and dad dress me up. It's what they get for making me wear this stupid monkey suit instead of taking me trick-or-treating."

"You and me both. I would rather be out on the streets begging for candy with you than being dressed up in this get up and meeting total strangers from Irene's side of the family." Sarah sighed. "Well, I suppose we can always buy a whole bunch of munchies tomorrow and rent a movie."

"It's not the same," Toby grumbled. "This was our last chance to go trick-or-treating together before you go off to college."

Sarah's eyes softened as she stared at her disgruntled brother trying to do his bow tie. She stilled his hands and helped him tie it for him.

"Is that why you've been misbehaving lately? Toby, even if I go somewhere far away, I'm always gonna come visit you. I would never leave you alone," Sarah whispered. "Not for anything in the world. I'll come visits weekends, holidays and on your birthday of course."

"But it's not the same. Whose gonna tell me cool stories?"

"Your mom can read you stories," Sarah pointed out.

"_Hansel and Gretel_, whoah, they give me goosebumps," Toby said, sarcasm dripping from his tone. His eyes suddenly turned excited as he shifted in Sarah's lap. "I want stories like the ones you've told me about your adventures in the Labyrinth."

"Don't you ever get tired of that story, Toby?" Sarah asked.

Toby shook his head. "It's a good story. I love your stories."

He jumped off of her lap and climbed onto the bed, his jacket sprawled on the floor. He spread his arms out as if to fly, and started hopping up and down on the bed. "I wanna hear more about Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo." He jumped from one side to the side bed agilely, spinning around to face Sarah. "I also wanna hear about the Cleaner, the Bog of Stench. Ooh and the Oubliette! Not to mention the Goblin King. Wait..how come your friends from the Labyrinth don't come over a lot?"

Sarah laughed and shook her head at him. "That's because you're napping most of the time, sleepy head," she said, stretching Toby's cheek. "You know the story by heart by now, I should think, why don't _you_ tell it to me this time?"

"Okay! Umm..." Toby scratched the back of his neck. "Ah, that's right! Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose step-mother always made her stay home with the baby. And the baby was a spoiled child and he wanted everything for himself and the young girl was practically a slave. But what no one knew was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl and he had given her special powers. So one night when the baby had been particularly cruel to her, she called on the Goblin King for help." Toby twisted his face up maliciously, sweeping his jacket behind like a cape. _"Say your right words, _the goblin said, _'I'll take the baby to the Goblin City and you will be free.' _But the girl knew that the King of Goblins would keep the baby and turn it into a Goblin so the girl suffered in silence until one night when she was tired after a day of house work and she was hurt by the harsh words of her step-mother then she could no longer stay silent. She finally said-"

Sarah clamped her hand over Toby's mouth and looked at him severely.

"Toby, you know I always skip this part. It's not safe. I can't afford to go after you again in the Labyrinth."

"I wish I could remember more but I can't remember anything except for an owl and blurry pictures of goblins and stairs and crystal balls." Toby sniffed. "I wish I could go back to the Labyrinth."

Sarah grinned. "I've had enough of adventures to last me a life time, trust me." She quickly ran a brush through his watery-like blond hair. Toby grudgingly let her help him slip his arms through his jacket. "Well, don't you look exceptionally handsome tonight. Tell me the rest of the story later, we'd better get to the party before your mom throws a fit."

They climbed down the stairs hand in hand to be greeted by so many people. Almost as soon as her feet touched the last step, Irene grabbed her by the elbow and began hauling her off. They stopped in front of a chubby woman with short, curly raven hair with a tall guy about her age with brown hair and blonde highlights. His eyes were the first thing that drew Sarah's attention...they were such blue eyes. He smiled in amusement as Sarah was presented to him, and Sarah glanced away in embarrassment.

"This is Mrs. Clarisse Bowman and her son Dave. Dave this is Sarah." _(A/N: Yes, I did borrow David Bowie's name...sort of."_

Dave stepped forward and gave a lavished bow, his eyes smiling as he took Sarah's hand in his and placed a chaste kiss on it.

He smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Sarah. Your stepmother speaks very highly of you."

"Ah...oh, really?" Sarah laughed lightly.

_Bull._

"Well, we'll leave you two alone," Irene said, giggling as she walked away arm-in-arm with Mrs. Bowman.

As soon as they were out of sight, Dave gave a sigh of relief and began ruffling his refined hair and tossed his tie aside. Sarah couldn't believe her eyes. She started giggling as he turned to face her with a much more laid back expression.

"Sorry, I just hate putting on appearances all the time," he explained. "My father is running for Prime Minister so a lot is expected from my family."

"Wow," Sarah said incredulously. "I'm guessing you probably had to go to an all boys private school or something like that?"

"Right. Can't afford any distractions I'm afraid."

Sarah giggled. "Being so long at an all boys' school can turn any guy gay."

"That's another reason," Dave said, snapping his fingers. "Attending college was my only hope of regaining my manhood."

"Where are you attending?"

"Oxford. Everyone in my family has gone so I was expected to as well. Not that I really mind. It's a fine school and it finally put some distance between the media and my family."

"Wow," Sarah breathed. "I could never imagine living that kind of life. It must be so tiring."

"It is. But it does have it's perks."

"Name one," Sarah challenged.

Dave laughed, his expression suddenly turning flirtatious. "Well...meeting pretty girls like you for one thing."

"You think I'm pretty?"

"Certainly."

Sarah was beginning to feel uncomfortable in the sudden turn of conversation. She was really bad at inept flirting or being around any guy at all.

Dave slipped his hand into hers. "Would you like to dance?"

"Umm...sure," Sarah squeaked.

Before Sarah knew it, she was being led out onto the dance floor surrounded by many couples under the amber light of the chandeliers. Dave threaded his fingers through hers while she settled her hand on his forearm and his other hand came to rest at the small of her back. Sarah's heart skipped a beat, feeling her face flush. She felt so ridiculous right now. She was dancing in a ridiculous ball gown that she had bought with her ridiculous step-mom...ridiculously. Sarah knew about dancing about as much as she knew about fashion. If she had had her way, she would've come to the party in a blouse and ratty jeans.

Dave smiled at her. "What're you nervous about?" He nodded slowly after a moment as if realization had dawned on him. "Ah...you fear your stepmother and my mother will keep trying to push us together. Don't worry about that, just try to enjoy yourself."

"Is that what you tell all the girls?" Sarah asked playfully, surprising herself.

"It depends," he said, spinning her around slowly, his face hovering closer to hers every time he ducked underneath their arms. "I don't fall for just anyone...but I do encourage girls to do so. Especially ones with no experience with love."

Sarah suddenly felt offended. "What? How can you assume that?" She flushed, turning her face away. "I-I've been in love before."

"Oh, really?" Dave's eyes flashed with interest. "Did he dance as good as me?"

"I just keep inflating your ego, don't I?"

Dave laughed lightly before turning on a serious face. "Was it serious?"

"Umm...no, I wouldn't really call it that. It was more like...just a dream," Sarah whispered. "Sometimes it feels like it never really happened at all."

"Isn't that just your heart trying to fool you?"

"Who knows. Sometimes I can barely trust myself much less my heart. I don't know who I am anymore or where I'm going to end up."

Dave 'tsk'ed. "Don't worry about that kind of stuff, you're eighteen years old. Live a little."

Sarah contemplated his words as they continued to dance in circles across the ballroom. She felt her ears burn red at the feeling of everyones' eyes upon them. She could see her step-mother and Dave's mother gushing over them while Robert sulked beside them. The rest of the guests were leering at them from behind their masquerade-like masks. Sarah fought the blush threatening to overwhelm her cheeks. She clutched Dave's shoulder and ducked her head. She felt his chuckle vibrate through her chest, and she slowly cast her gaze up to meet his.

"I-I think we should get something to drink," Sarah said, her voice cracking.

"In a minute," Dave said off-handedly. "You might end up ditching me right after this and probably never see you again and so I would at least like to finish one dance with you."

Sarah laughed. "Are you for real?"

"Oh, yes, I'm very real."

For a moment, Dave's blue eyes seemed to shimmer unnaturally under the chandelier's light. He spun her about a few times before gently bringing her back against him. He grinned at her as he continued to lead her up and down the dance floor. As Sarah stared up into his blue eyes, she felt an onslaught of memories coming back at her all at once. She remembered having eaten the peach received by Hoggle and falling into a deep sleep...and sharing a dance with the Goblin King. Sarah blushed profusely at the memory, mentally kicking herself for getting distracted. Even more embarrassed for letting Dave persuade her so easily.

What was it about this guy that made Sarah feel so...nostalgic? He had such an unnatural beauty and otherworldly presence to him. In a way, he sort of reminded her of a teenaged Jareth with darker, much more tamer hair. Sarah searched his eyes for an answer but the depths of his winter blue eyes revealed nothing. Dave leaned down and for one frightened moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he moved his lips close to her ear. He had halted their movements and now they stood perfectly still in the middle of the dance floor.

"I see you distrust me. I should've expected this much from the great Sarah Williams."

Sarah's eyes widened at his words. She pulled back somewhat and searched his face. Again, he gave nothing away.

"Who are you, really?"

Dave smiled. "I'm whoever you want me to be."

"You're feeding me nothing but gibberish," Sarah muttered. She glanced around her inconspicuously before turning back to him. She lowered her voice to a minimal whisper. "Are you one of..._them_?"

"Pray tell, what do you mean by _them_?" Dave cocked his head to the side in confusion, his pink lips slightly pouting as he did so.

Sarah suddenly felt very stupid. She shook her head, convincing herself it wasn't possible for one of the Fae to be in the Aboveground. They couldn't be summoned unless the precise words were spoken. Unless someone among these people Irene had invited had a rare copy of the _Labyrinth_, she doubted someone had actually summoned one of the Fae. Yet...things were not always as they seemed. Sarah forced a smile as she slowly backed away from Dave.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm saying. I think I'm just tired," she explained. "Please excuse me."

Just as she turned around to walk away, she was surprised to find Dave standing in her way. He wore a pleasant smile yet there was a wildness about his eyes. He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned down so that they were now at eye level.

"I'm gonna need you to finish what you were saying, _princess_," he spat.

"What?" Sarah asked, horrified.

"I was told many things about you. You are the only one to have defeated the Goblin King's labyrinth. Tales of such cleverness, bravery and..." Dave threaded his fingers through her locks of ebony, his expression turning soft. "...Beauty. Yet what I see before me is a foolish girl who can't even see through a Fae creature's glamour."

Sarah stared at him. "...What do you want with me?"

"It's not what I want with you," he whispered, letting one long finger trail down her jaw. "It's completely up to Jareth what he's to do with you."

"He's here?" Sarah asked.

Dave nodded. "His grand entrance grows near so prepare yourself."

"What exactly are you to him?"

"That should be of little concern to you," Dave brushed her off. He tossed his head back and Sarah could see the glamour melting away. His hair was now spikier at every angle with golden streaks, and every beauty mark and any trace of blemishes had disappeared. A scar was revealed on his right eye, and his ears grew pointed. His suit was replaced with a blue doublet and a white frilled poet's shirt. He wore black knee-length boots that practically blended in with his pants. "I'm on no one's side but my own, let that be clear."

By now, the music had come to an abrupt halt and everyone's attention was now on Dave. He turned away to face his horrified mother who had her hand plastered to her mouth in a silent scream. He smiled sweetly at her, placing his arms behind his back as he let her take a good look at him. He slowly walked toward her until he was only a few feet away, bowing mockingly as he did so.

"Did I give you a fright, mother? I must apologize for never showing you my true form."

"You...are not my son," Mrs. Bowman whispered.

Dave worked the kinks out of his muscles as everyone continued to gaze on in astonishment. "Nope, afraid not. Are you aware of the term _changeling, _mother dear? Yes? No? Well, that should be explanation enough for you. Your son and I were switched at birth, though I do think I'm the one who got the worse end of the deal. You humans are all so ridiculous, naive and selfish. I laugh at the lot of you. Especially you, _mother_, you demanding, pigheaded, old hag."

Mrs. Bowman's eyes filled with tears as she continued to stare at the boy who had once wore her son's face. Sarah felt rage drive her as she closed the distance between herself and Dave. She clamped a hand on his shoulder, and he glanced back at her sharply. An annoyed look crossed his face.

"That's enough," Sarah hissed. "Leave. You're not welcome here."

Dave slowly turned around to face her, adjusting his doublet as he did so. "Temper, temper," he tutted. "Well, it's not me you should be afraid of, after all."

He snapped his fingers and the smoke suddenly began rapidly engulfing the room. Sarah reached out to grab Dave, but her fingers barely brushed against his arm as he disappeared into the smoke. She cursed colorfully under her breath as she ran where she thought her family might've been. Dozens of shadows passed her, followed by malicious cackles that seemed to be all around her. A tiny goblin stood before her, tugging at the hem of her dress, its claws digging into the fabric. Sarah kicked it away, glancing this way and that, desperately trying to follow the sounds of her father, Toby or even her stepmother.

The smoke reached Sarah's lungs, and she started coughing erratically. She clasped a hand over her mouth, glancing frantically around her through glassy eyes. She caught sight of a man in a tuxedo that looked vaguely similar to her father's. Just as she was about to cry out his name, she was shoved roughly aside. Goblin laughter could be heard somewhere behind her. Sarah winced painfully as her side made impact with the mosaic ground. She shakily raised herself up to elbows. That was when her eyes settled on a pair of piratical boots stepping out of the smoke before her. Her green eyes stared at them in surprise, slowly bringing her gaze up a pair of strong legs, a defined chest and finally met the mismatched eyes of the Goblin King.

Jareth gazed down at her with a mixture of superiority and something else that Sarah couldn't identify with. He had his hands at his hips as he stared her down, completely rooting her to the spot.

"Why has the Labyrinth's champion fallen so quickly after her first battle?"

Sarah continued to gawk at him in disbelief. Jareth suddenly stepped closer, gloved hands reaching out toward her. Sarah ducked her head and shrank away from his touch. Jareth sighed impatiently as he hauled her up to her feet, not letting go of her when he got a good look at her profile. His blue and brown eyes skimmed over her gown, lingering at her collar bone with appreciation.

"What're you doing here?" Sarah asked breathlessly, too shocked to struggle out of his hold.

Jareth smirked. "My how you've grown. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Not long enough. What're you doing here?" she repeated.

Jareth twirled her about a few times before slowly bringing her back against him as if unaware of the chaos going on around him. "Masquerades such as these are practically invitations for any Fae creature, especially during all Hallows Eve. It's the only time we can freely enter the Aboveground without having to be summoned. I assure you I'll be gone before the night is over." He paused. "...But not before taking something with me."

"You're not getting Toby." Sarah's eyes narrowed.

"Ah, precious Toby. He would've made a wonderful Goblin King, your brother, he most certainly would have." Jareth's face suddenly became stone. "However...your brother's time is over. I relinquished my hold on him the day you conquered my Labyrinth...but my appearance tonight announces my vengeance against his sister."

Sarah visibly stiffened up in his hold, feeling a chill crawl up her spine at the dark look he was giving her. She pressed her hands against his chest and struggled to escape him. Jared effortlessly kept her still in his grasp as he continued to lead her through the dance. He gave her a feral grin as he brought her even closer against him.

"Revenge is oh so sweet," he whispered, breathing warm breath against her ear. "Everything has all been carefully calculated these past thrice years. Little Sarah, you have no idea what a nightmare you're in for."

"What are you planning?" Sarah demanded, her eyes staring up defiantly at him.

Jareth gave a brief smile. "Still got that spirit, eh?" He twirled her around three times slowly before bringing her back against him. "My revenge will be slow and agonizing. Tonight you are to come with me."

Sarah finally managed to break away from him, her chest heaving as she glared at him.

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

Just as she shot off through the crowds, Jareth's voice rang out loud and clear like a siren. "Sarah!"

His powerful voice made the air heavy and Sarah was suddenly caught up in a swirl of smoke. All the guests were caught up a frenzy, and were running around screaming hysterically. Through glimpses within the smoke, she could see the people in masks that Jareth had brought in were transforming back into goblins. Sarah swiveled her neck this way and that trying to look for an exit. At the sound of footsteps behind her, she whirled around only to find Jareth a few inches from her face.

"...You won't escape."

Sarah felt her breath leave her, her eyes switching from Jareth's mismatched orbs to all the chaos going on all around her. Why had she thought she could fight him off? How could she outsmart him this time? Sarah stood rooted to the spot, craning her neck up to stare at Jareth. He smiled coldly before grabbing her by the arm. He wasted no time, swishing his cape behind him and dragging Sarah along. Sarah glanced over her shoulder at the sound of her little brother. Her face contorted with worry and struggled to escape Jareth's hold. She was physically powerless against him but she still had to try.

Through all the chaos, she made out Toby's weeping face disappearing behind a cloud of smoke. Sarah screamed his name over and over again, dragging her feet but Jareth simply walked forward as if out for a stroll. He turned to smile at her before halting his movements altogether. He placed his hands on her waist and swung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Though she kicked and screamed, the Goblin King did not yield. Sarah reached out weakly in a sad attempt to grab Toby's hand before the smoke swallowed her and Jareth up.

As the smoke slowly started to clear up, Toby slowly uncurled himself from the floor, blinking rapidly all around him. All the guests had disappeared and the only ones left were his parents. His mother had fainted on the staircase in her attempt to escape, and Robert was attempting to gently awaken her. Toby's tear-filled eyes widened and he waddled over to his mother, tearing off the bow tie that threatened to suffocate him. He was beside her instantly, kneeling down and cradling her hand in his.

"Is...is mommy gonna be okay?" Toby asked, biting his lower lip.

Robert smiled weakly, still appearing shaken from the creatures from moments ago. "Yes, of course, son. No need to worry. Those party crashers just gave us a scare is all."

"Where did that man take Sarah?"

Robert's mouth twisted into a frown, words playing at his lips but he suddenly stopped as if in a trance. He blinked after a few moments, and glanced down at Toby once more.

"I'm sorry, my boy, what did you ask?"

Toby frowned. "I asked where that weird man took Sarah?" he asked impatiently.

"Sarah...? Who are you talking about?"

**A/N: I'm sure you guys noticed my borrowing of David Bowie name. I wanted to create a character in honor of him so Dave Bowman was born as the human disguise of Ignaceous (the changeling). ^_^ Thx for reading. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Plz R/R for a quick update. **


	2. Pawn and Knight

A/N: :P I immensely enjoyed writing Jareth, I hope I've kept him in pretty good character for the most part. I loved all the scenes between him and Sarah. They reminded me of a situation where a guy obsesses over the "girl next door" except in this case it's more like a king who obsesses over the girl the next world over. Pent up "frustration" on Jareth's part. lol. And confusion and obliviousness on Sarah's.

_"__Alice, Alice the queen is raging. Cheshire cat with his smile fading. A pawn. Eight squares. Now her majesty, oh we're curious to know which hole you followed the white rabbit down. _We're losing some friends and changing the scenery. Truth, they find. Always colorful, cutting the cold. Yes, we lied. We knew you were destined for underachieving. And so tonight...means goodbye as the story is told. " ~ Alice, Alice by Victim Effect

**Mortal Instrument **

_Chapter 2: Pawn and Knight_

There was girl on his bed. Not just any girl, but an extraordinary one who he would've loved to continue gazing at as she slept. Jareth stood staring down at Sarah who he had unceremoniously dumped on the bed hours earlier. She had put up quite a fight as they had crossed into the Underground. She had even had the gall to knee him in the throat, nearly making him gag on his own saliva. That was when the gloves finally had to come off. Figuratively of course. He was tired of being so patient with this wretched girl who deserved none of his patience or generosity to begin with.

He had apparated a crystal that turned into a scepter. He jabbed Sarah's stomach with the end of it, feeling himself almost sigh in relief when her body slumped against his shoulder. Jareth now loomed over Sarah's vulnerably human body. She had one arm sprawled out while one was laid against her stomach. Her ebony hair was a stark contrast against the pearly white throw pillows. Each time her chest heaved, the veil of her lashes fluttered across her porcelain skin.

There was just something so intriguing about watching her sleep. It was something he hadn't done in a long time. Not since the first few months after having laid eyes on her. Even now when Jareth loathed her her very presence still had the same effect on him. Being so near her again was like a breath of fresh air he had been starving himself from. Jareth ran a gloved hand down his face. Why did he choose to travel down this road again? Why did he insist on constantly tormenting himself? Hadn't he learned his lesson after the first time of messing around with her? Jareth recalled the mortifying memories of Sarah besting him at his own game and the cruel gleam in his eyes returned.

Jareth was suddenly torn between kissing the undisturbed young girl, and slipping his gloved hands around her slender throat until she ceased to breathe. He didn't know which would be sweeter. The longer he stared at her, the stronger the rage inside him took over. He turned away sharply and walked toward the window, chest heaving and shoulders trembling with barely suppressed anger and desire. How could she sleep so peacefully after the hell she had put him through. A smirk suddenly curved on Jareth's lips as he glanced over his shoulder at Sarah. No use in lingering in the past. Sarah's time was over, now it was time to turn the tables on her.

A soft murmuring escaped Sarah's lips, and she turned on her side with her back facing Jareth. Her hands were now clutching a pillow tightly as her body trembled violently. Jareth raised an eyebrow at this but remained expressionless as he watched her writhe on his bed. It was rare for the girl to have nightmares yet here she was murmuring unintelligent things and tossing and turning. Jareth leaned over her, the tips of his flaxen hair brushing Sarah's earlobe. Sarah gasped sharply in her sleep as if in pain, flipping onto her back, unknowingly inches away from Jareth's face. She whispered something that Jareth could finally understand.

"Toby..."

Even when she was in the most dangerous territory she could imagine, it never ceased to amaze Jareth how she could be worrying about others so much. She was indeed a rather naive and strange girl. The Aboveground would be a darker place without Sarah Williams but it was of no concern to Jareth. She would soon grow use to the life he had arranged for her. It's not as though she had a choice in the matter. He would greatly enjoy taking his time with Sarah.

He slipped the covers over her body, crossing her arms over her stomach. He waved his hand over an unlit candle stub on the nightstand. Immediately, amber light flickered and danced over the orange wax and the scent of peaches drifted through the air. After a few moments, Sarah's breathing returned to normal and she laid perfectly still in bed. Jareth watched with a look of satisfaction for a moment. After one last glance over his shoulder, he turned on his heel and left the room.

* * *

A sweet scent awoke Sarah from her gentle slumber, slowly ebbing sleep away. Sarah's sight slowly came back into focus, and saw her familiar white ceiling above her. On her right side, she saw her shelf of stuffed animals in neat order. Lancelot peeked at her from his place on the shelf, staring with his shiny black eyes. Sarah smiled as she reached out and tugged Lancelot to her side, pressing her face against his soft fake fur. She chuckled as she remembered her friends teasing her for still keeping stuffed animals around. They didn't understand just how much her childhood had meant to her, even more so now that she was practically an adult.

Sarah stayed in bed for a few more moments, listening to the chirping of birds outside her window. She raised herself up to her elbows, watching as the comforter slipped off her form. Her eyes widened when she saw she had gone to bed in her ball gown. Sighing heavily, she removed herself from her bed when she realized her step-mom would throw a fit about having to iron the creases out her new dress. Sarah stopped herself short just as she was about to unzip herself. This wasn't right. Why was she in her bedroom from New York? Her family had moved to London so how...?

Flashes of the events from the night before suddenly came crashing back at Sarah all full force. Thats right. The party. The goblins. The changeling. Toby crying...Jareth. Before she could give it a second thought, Sarah flung her bedroom door open. Her eyes widened as she saw tapestries and vases adorning the spacious hallway along with bustling goblins who had yet to notice her. She shut the door just as quickly as she had opened it and pressed her back against the wooden door, breathing in short, ragged pants as if she had just run a marathon. She clenched her eyes shut as she pressed the back of her fists against them.

So it hadn't been a nightmare, after all. Jareth really had come and taken her away from her family. She faintly recalled him mentioning something about revenge. Sarah felt a tremor course through her body at the memory. She definitely didn't want to stick around to find out what Jareth had in mind. First things first, she needed to change out of her hindrance of a dress and into something easier to damage. Sarah ran over to her dresser and nearly fell over when she saw not a scrap of clothing was in it. She went over to the closet and swung the door open. Nothing. Sarah leaned against the bedpost, feeling creases of frustration being drawn on her forehead.

If Jareth really was planning on keeping her here, why hadn't he bothered to stock up on clothing? Sarah sighed. Only _he _would be sadistic enough to do something like this. She shook her head, vowing not to let Jareth get to her. She would simply have to go and confront him herself. She opened her bedroom door once more and stuck her head out. There was a female goblin watering a wilted flower who briefly turned to glance at her. Her eyes widened and she scurried off with her young goblin child. Sarah raised an eyebrow at this.

She crept along from hall to hall, soon growing annoyed with the maze-like corridors. It certainly didn't feel like she was getting anywhere. She went up to a random room on her left and her mouth gaped open like a fish. She was back in her bedroom! Sarah ground her teeth irritably. Jareth was always the cheater. Well, that was perfectly fine, she would find her way out of this castle in no time. Sarah gathered up her skirts and flew down the hallway, startling the wits out of several goblins as she ran by.

After running nonstop for a while, Sarah did a double take when she saw the same goblin dusting a picture frame that she had seen earlier. She let out a cry of frustration, startling the goblin who took one look at Sarah and frantically scuttled off around the corner. Sarah paid him no attention as she leaned against the wall, gently knocking her head against it as she wondered what she was doing wrong. Surely, she hadn't grown _that _stupid in her three year absence from the Underground. She found a smile spreading across her face after a moment. That's right...she should never take anything for granted.

Sarah walked up toward a random door and swung the door open. She frowned upon seeing her bedroom once again. She shut it none too gently and was about to walk away when suddenly she had an idea. She opened the door once more and this time she was in the Escher Room. Sarah gasped as the cool air from within swept toward her, blowing her hair back dramatically as she took one step inside. She _'__eep'_ed when she saw the long fall down and stepped back. She was being ridiculous. Even if she fell, it wouldn't kill her. At this point, nothing should scare anymore after her adventure in the Labyrinth as well as the huge leap she had taken for Toby.

"Ahem!"

Sarah jumped, stiffening at the sound of someone clearing their throat. She glanced behind her to find an irritated goblin standing in the entrance. He had a round, bald head with one webbed ear and one droopy with a bite taken out of it. He had wide nostrils and enormous brown eyes. His skin tone was a burnt orange with a wide chest and arms and legs too long for his short body.

"Are you going in or just standing there 'till ya turn to statue?"

Sarah frowned and stepped aside. "I'm not sure yet...umm would you happen to know how to find Jareth's room?"

The goblin looked aghast. "How dare a lowly human girl like you address His Majesty so familiarly?"

"Let's just say we have a...history together," Sarah said distastefully. "So are you going to tell me or not?"

The goblin shrugged. "Depends on the right question."

"Alright umm..._Where_ is the Goblin King's room?"

"_That's_ more like it. His room is right above yours, I suggest you take the flight of stairs to your left."

"But-

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm very busy," the goblin said matter-of-factly. "I'm the one that has to clean these darned stairs everyday and then everyone just goes walking on them right after I clean 'em. No darn sympathy."

Sarah felt a smile on her face. "I'm sure your hard work is appreciated, thanks a lot."

She ran off in the direction the goblin had given her, her dark hair billowing out behind her as she took off back through the Escher Room's exit, leaving him to stand gawking at her retreating form. He scratched his bald head, bony fingers sifting through the only three strands of hair on it. Who knew what the Goblin King had in store for her? He almost felt bad for her...almost.

* * *

The Labyrinth champion had followed the goblin's directions precisely yet when she reached her destination...she was surprised to find at what she found. Sheesh it looked more like an apartment than a room. Sarah stayed outside of the threshold for several moments as if the grandness before her was forcing a barrier against her. She stepped inside, wary about the Goblin King appearing at any moment. Her heart skipped a beat as she ventured deeper into the room.

It felt so strange being in the Goblin King's room. At first she had set out to find Jareth and demand him to take her home but the moment she stepped in, all her defenses had failed her. It felt so forbidden for her to be in Jareth's chambers yet she couldn't help but gawk in wonder at the splendor surrounding her. The walls were pure white but as Sarah neared them she could see the brilliant colors she had only ever seen in books; the Northern Lights winking in and out of sunlight. A quaint fireplace with a cozy fire crackling over burning wood, and a bronze-framed mirror stood in the corner of the room. Sarah could only guess that that the door beside the mirror led to the lavatory.

The bed, in Sarah's opinion, was a master piece. It was a king-sized bed with a golden canopy that matched the silk sheets. At the head of the bed rested two large, pearly white pillows. Sarah stood in foot of the bed, hesitantly reaching out to run her hand over the cool material of the bed sheets. If it was this soft to the touch she could only imagine how heavenly it would be to sleep on. A sudden thought occurred to her and her neck arched to allowed her to look at the ceiling. She let out a breath of relief when she saw that there wasn't a mirror on his ceiling. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head at the thought. Why would she even let something like that cross her mind? She shivered and shook her head at such an idea.

Instead of a mirror like Sarah's mind had so audaciously conspired, there was a dome made of crystal that allowed the sun to shine radiantly into the room. She could only imagine how beautiful it must have looked by moonlight. Slowly, almost regretfully, she turned her gaze away from the ceiling. It was then that she noticed the wardrobe and a sudden idea occurred to her.

Sarah stared at it for a moment before sifting through the dark-colored shirts and tight pants. She dug through the rest of his clothes but they just seemed to go on and on. Too many of Jareth's shirts were split down the front. She finally found a red shirt with frilly sleeves and a pair of blank trousers. She quickly slipped into them and pulled on Jareth's boots. She felt stupid walking around in shoes that no where no near fit her. It didn't matter. Shoe-less or not, she didn't have to look formal to address the Goblin King.

She exited the room, running past the same goblins from earlier, the mother goblin and child. The mother goblin scolded her young son for gawking at the human. Sarah glanced over her shoulder and furrowed her eyebrows at the sound of her name being whispered. The child was nodding solemnly at his mother, staring at Sarah over his mother's arm as he was carried away. She was so distracted that she nearly ran into another crowd of goblins. Some gasped at the sight of her while others snickered as they made way for her. Sarah screeched to a halt in time, glancing out of the corner of her eye. The goblins pointed at her as she walked down the staircase and whispered amongst themselves.

Sarah came across another door and opened it in hopes of it leading to the dining room. That was the secret to these hallways; if she visualized a room hard enough, any door would take her there. Her eyebrows arched when she saw that she was in another hallway now. As she stepped through the threshold, she could smell a delicious aroma in the air. Sarah absently licked her lips as she approached a set of large, heavy doors that seemed to tower almost menacingly over her. One of them was open a crack and Sarah edged closer to peek inside. She almost backpedaled away from the doors when she caught a glimpse of Jareth sitting at the dining table. She gasped softly when she saw his head slowly lifting up. She ducked out of sight, feeling foolish for hiding. What was she nervous about? Where had all her bravado from before gone? Sarah gently slapped her cheeks and squeezed her eyes shut. She inhaled and exhaled before finally reaching for the door knob.

As Sarah approached the long table filled with mouth-watering foods, stopping when she was suddenly aware that every single goblin in the room had turned its attention toward her. She ignored them, having already gotten used to the goblins strange behavior from earlier. At the head of the table sat Jareth and at the opposite end was Dave Bowman (or more precisely, the Dave Bowman impostor). Dave seemed to have sensed her even before she had walked into the room. The back of his chair faced her and a bony aristocratic finger beckoned her toward the table. Sarah hesitantly walked toward the table, her eyes never leaving the Goblin King's lazy form. He had his legs propped up against the table while sipping some wine, his eyes unfocused as he stared into his glass.

"I see you finally decided to join us, Sarah. A shame, though. Breakfast is over. If you wish to eat, I'm sure the cook will save you some scraps." Jareth felt the edges of his lips curve into a smirk. It stopped short when he saw Sarah standing before him with clothes that not only looked far too large for her but strangely similar to his. Jareth simultaneously spat out his wine, letting a spray of wine go flying out over a bunch of goblins. Sarah leaped back with a yelp, narrowly avoiding being drenched. "What the devil? Why-why're you in my clothes?"

Sarah felt herself blush, nervously tightening the belt on her pants as she did so. "Well, if you had bothered to leave me some clothes in my room, I wouldn't have to be going through yours."

From behind her, she could hear the muffled snickers coming from Dave. He was leaning forward on one elbow, his hand indiscreetly hovering over his mouth. Sarah set her lips into a thin line of irritation. She was glad _someone _was amused by this whole ordeal. The man she was standing before, however, was not. Jareth's jaw was clenched tightly, eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring violently. One hand rested at his knee while the other was clenching the arm of his chair.

"Your dress from last night was perfectly fine," Jareth snarled. "How could you possibly be parading around in my clothes?"

"Fine? It was tattered thanks to your little goblin lackeys," Sarah retorted, fists clenched at her side. "Besides, it's not like I plan on staying here much longer. I demand- no - I order you to take me back home."

Jareth narrowed his eyes. "You are in no position to be giving orders. Like it or not, I plan on keeping you here for a while."

"Look, I beat you fair and square. I shouldn't have anything to do with you anymore."

"On the contrary, my dear, you have everything to do with me." A slow, evil smile graced Jareth's lips. "I have a very important job for you."

"What makes you think I'd do anything for you?" Sarah asked, not hiding her bitterness.

Jareth chuckled. "Let's just say you might find my offer quite...intriguing." He waved his gloved hand toward the wall behind him at the clock. "Time is of the essence, Sarah. If you wish to return home, you must find three certain objects before thirteen weeks are up or you will remain here forever etc. etc.," Jareth said, waving his hand in a bored manner.

Sarah sighed wearily. "This again? Fine..." she grumbled. "What do I have to look for?"

"Since you enjoy solving riddles so much, I'll leave it up to you to figure that out," Jareth said with a cruel smile. His crystal balls glided up and down his hands expertly, the reflection of the candles casting an almost angelic glow. "Here's your first riddle. _I show your most desperate desires, passions of most wild fires. I'm somewhere dark and decrepit where especially the damned dead have slept._ Should I find out you're receiving outside help on this little scavenger hunt of yours, I'll keep upping the stakes." He threw his legs down from the table, and was suddenly standing tall over Sarah who shrank back at his gaze. "I allow offenses to go so far. That's why I'll only allow three from you. You don't want to know what will happen to you if you defy me all three times. Surely even you cannot be quite so dimwitted. I'd be _very _careful if I were you. From now on you'll be watched very carefully, precious."

"By who?"

Instead of answering her, Jareth's eyes flicked toward Dave who was studying a spot on his boot with remarkable interest. He was dressed in another regal-looking outfit much like the one from the previous night except it was green. His hair was swept back with the same wildness she had witnessed, and elfish ears stuck out on either side of his head. A silver leaf glinted at the top of one ear. He raised his eyes slowly, almost dramatically when he felt all eyes on him.

"Introduce yourself. I know you're not one to be shy." Jareth smirked.

Dave, who had been quiet..._mostly _quiet up till now, had tossed his half-eaten apple over his shoulder. It landed in the middle of an eager bunch of goblins who fought over it. He walked casually over toward Sarah and gave her a mocking bow, sharing the mischievous glint in his eye with Jareth over her head.

"Pleased to formally make your acquaintance, Miss Sarah. My name is Ignaceous." (A/N: Pronounced Ig-nay-shus just in case anyone was curious.)

Sarah frowned. "Your real name? You definitely had Mrs. Bowman and everyone fooled, didn't you?"

Ignaceous smiled, his features sharpening ten-fold. "Yes, well, it was all apart of Jareth's plan."

"You're both sick," Sarah spat.

This only seemed to further amuse Jareth.

"It's too late for flattery, _Sa-rah_," Jareth said, emphasizing her name with a roll of his tongue. "Go get properly attired and surprise me when I call for you."

"And if I refuse?" Sarah jutted her chin out defiantly. "Drop me in the Bog of Stench again, will you?"

Ignaceous let out something between a laugh and a wheeze. "You actually dropped a girl in there, Jareth?"

Jareth ignored him. "That's always a favorable option," he drawled. "But if you choose to continuously defy me then I could always make you a scullery maid or even my consort." Jareth played with his crystal balls, managing to balance one crystal ball on the tips of his fingers. "You're lucky I'm being so generous with you."

Sarah gawked at his audacity in disbelief, unable to form a coherent thought or insult to fire back at him. Ignaceous appeared beside her and chucked her chin up, effectively closing her mouth shut. He stood with hands on his narrow hips as he raised an eyebrow at her. '_Did the word consort completely escape her?' _Ignaceous pondered. Sarah turned her glare from him to Jareth.

"You really think you're generous, don't you?" Sarah stepped closer to Jareth. "Generous would be you letting me go home, generous would be you choking on a peach seed, generous would be you diving head first into the Bog of Eternal Stench and generous would be you flushing your face!" Sarah huffed, feeling her face flush and her shoulders tremble in anger.

Ignaceous stood looking at her wild-eyed in disbelief with his arms hanging limply at his side. He had to do a double-take when he saw Jareth had tossed his head back and had started laughing.

"You never change, Sarah. Always the child."

Sarah frowned. "I'm not a child anymore."

"I believe only a child would tell me to "_flush my face" _as you put it."

Sarah blushed, feeling her ears burn more when she heard Ignaceous let out a muffled snort. She crossed her arms over her chest and bit her lip as she looked away. She hated feeling so vulnerable and scrutinized, she'd had enough of that to last a long time. After a long moment, she finally glanced up at Jareth's smug face.

"I'll only agree to this on one condition."

"Conditions, she says," Jareth muttered, shaking his head.

"If- no - _when_ I win, I want you to promise to never mess with me and my family ever again."

"My word is true, you should know that." Jareth began circling her, his eyes trained on hers. "You asked the child to be taken, I have done that. You asked to go home, and I have done as you wished. If you don't trust my word on this then you really haven't learned your lesson from the first time."

Sarah suddenly felt very exposed under his gaze and looked away guiltily. "Of course, I've learned my lesson. I love Toby, I would never wish my fate on him."

"Let's hope that's true. Now-" Jareth's eyes grew wide as he glanced down. His hand shot forward so fast that Sarah barely had a chance to blink. He had her wrist in a strong grip and was staring intently at her hand. "Where's the ring?"

"Ring?"

Jareth sighed impatiently. "Always ignoring my gifts, are you? Listen, Sarah, you didn't find that ring. It found you. It belongs to you." He dropped her wrist abruptly and turned his back to her. "...You've noticed strange occurrences around you, I take?"

Sarah nodded after a moment of uncertainty.

"Your powers are awakening," Jareth murmured. "The ring acts as a limiter for you so that you can control it."

"Powers?" Sarah echoed, blinking doe-like. "I don't have-

"Of course you do. You beat the Labyrinth so therefore you received some of its powers." At Ignaceous' snort, Jareth sent him a brutal glare before turning back to Sarah. "It's up to you to learn how to use them yourself. I don't have the time nor the patience to teach you right now even if I so wished it."

Sarah looked speechless for a moment, and after a moment, closed her gaping mouth.

"No...no way," she breathed, staring incredulously at the ring. "I can't be held responsible. My first run in with these so-called powers had people almost get hurt. I'm sorry but these powers aren't for me. You have to take them back."

Jareth quirked an eyebrow at her. "You deny my generosity from before and now you dare deny the powers I've bestowed upon you?"

Sarah squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze yet found her sight captured by his blue and brown eyes. There was something so unyielding and powerful about them that made Sarah shiver. The pressure in the room heightened ten-fold, the tension so thick that it could not be cut. The ring on her forefinger that dangled at her side suddenly felt very heavy. Her other hand clasped over it, twisting the band from side to side nervously.

"I can't accept them. I won't have anyone get hurt because of me," Sarah explained.

"Regardless, they're yours now." Jareth narrowed his eyes.

Ignaceous stepped forward, bowing respectfully, his cloak cascading down one wiry shoulder as he did so. "If I may be so bold, your Majesty, I would be willing to teach the girl the arts."

Jareth seemed to consider this for a moment as he stared at him. "...Very well, I'll leave everything to you then. Look after her in my absence since she's bound to get herself into trouble."

"Hey, don't just talk about me like I'm not even here," Sarah protested. Her eyes widened when she saw Jareth simply turn away with a swish of his cloak and began striding out of the dining hall. "Wait! Where are you going?"

Jareth halted his steps, and glanced casually over his heavily-cloaked shoulder. He wore a smirk that made Sarah sick to her stomach and suddenly wished she hadn't asked. His eyelids hooded, eyes flashing unnaturally under the light of the chandeliers that hung over them.

"Are you really that interested in what I do with my time?"

Sarah looked away and mumbled, "Not really..."

Jareth chuckled. "I will be in charge of holding Beltane this year. It's a Fae gathering that happens every few centuries. Perhaps I will have you entertain everyone that evening."

"There's no way-

"Since I hear no objections, I'll leave you to do whatever you'd like today as long as you figure out in what manner you plan on entertaining me soon."

Sarah could only gawk at him as he left the room, feeling her face turn red with rage when she heard Ignaceous laugh somewhere behind her.

* * *

Ignaceous chortled as he stood near Jareth who was draped over his throne, thrumming his riding crop rhythmically against the heel of his boot. His eyes were closed, effectively ignoring the idiotic chatter of the goblins surrounding him. One goblin was kneeling before him, haphazardly trying to polish his boot, wary of Jareth's random kicks to the head he was known for.

"Amazing, to think you would drop a girl in the Bog. Now that's just rich." Jareth gave him a look to shut up before turning his head away. "Quite a girl she is. From all the stories I've heard of this girl, I have to say she wasn't quite what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting then?"

Ignaceous shrugged. "Not entirely sure. She seems quite...outspoken, doesn't she?"

Jareth tossed his head back and laughed long and hard. "You would hardly know the half of it. That fascinating mouth of hers' has gotten her into a world of trouble before."

As Ignaceous studied Jareth's posture and expression, he began to wonder just how much Jareth knew about this girl. According to the little information he had given him, Sarah had been the one to beat Jareth and take back her baby brother...yet here he was _laughing. _The Jareth he knew from the past was always cruel, dark and brooding. The one he was gaping at now still seemed to possess that same dominance and enigma as before yet there seemed to be a bit of pride in Jareth's words when he spoke of Sarah. Ignaceous reminded himself that it was none of his concern.

"Is she really that powerful?" Ignaceous blurted out before he could help himself, going against his earlier thoughts. He stepped closer to Jareth's throne subconsciously.

Jareth half-smiled as he propped his cheek against his fist. His eyes were a mixture of admiration and self-loathing. "Perhaps...it seems I '_have no power'_ over her."

Ignaceous furrowed his eyebrows at the vague answer.

"No power? But she's but a mere mortal." Ignaceous set his jaw. "I don't understand. What makes this girl stand out from the rest of the humans who have run your Labyrinth before?"

"The girl was different," Jareth murmured, placing a hand under his chin. "She..._changed_ dramatically as time flew against her. She went from being a spoiled brat to a heroic young woman all within the span of thirteen hours." His eyes softened for a moment. "No, perhaps that was her true character all along."

"What do you want with her exactly?"

Jareth chuckled. "Some fun, no harm in that."

"Twisted as always." Ignaceous chuckled after a moment, features sharpening as he sat on one of the steps in front of Jareth's throne. "So I suppose all the most important chess pieces to this little game of yours have come together. You're still missing a knight and a bishop though. Other than that, everything seems to be going according to plan. If I weren't so royally pissed at you, I might actually give you credit for thinking up such a diabolical plan."

"Are you still fretting over _that_? I should think that you would be happier in the Aboveground. You were after all, the only one able to travel up there after you were banished." Jareth smirked. "Did the humans put you through terrible things?"

Ignaceous turned sharply to stare at him. "You can't even imagine." His face twisted into a scowl as an onslaught of memories came back. "For nineteen years, I had to endure going through acne, body odor and voice changes. It still gives me the chills just thinking about it."

Jareth smirked. "Yes, I did check on you once in a while," he said, gesturing to his crystal ball. "It was rather amusing."

"For you, maybe, but I had to endure what felt like an eternity with that ridiculous family."

"Don't be troubled with things of the past. I have a much more important job for you."

"Watch over the girl, yes, I know," Ignaceous sighed. "I never thought I would be babysitting a human girl." He paused to sort his thoughts and a look of realization crossed his flawless face. "Wait a second...the challenge you originally gave her was only thirteen hours, correct?"

"Yes...," Jareth said slowly as if talking to a simpleton.

"Well, wouldn't the next proper challenge be due for thirteen days not weeks? Won't the extended period of time make it easier for the girl to best your challenge a second time?"

Jareth smiled, bitter and cruel. "Not in this case. Let's just say that I'll be keeping her far too busy for her to start searching for the items."

"Is there any actual purpose of her collecting these precious items?"

"There is a reason behind everything I do. It will all be revealed in good time."

Ignaceous smirked. "By the way, she looked awfully cute in your clothes, don't you think?"

"Another word and I'll throw _you _into the Bog of Eternal Stench."

* * *

Sarah wandered around aimlessly around the castle with her arms crossed over her chest. Thirteen weeks...she had thirteen weeks to find three precious objects in order restore her existence in the Aboveground. Or what was left of it. Sarah had always felt like she hadn't really belonged with her family. Sometimes she thought that Robert, Irene and Toby were all the family they needed and Sarah was just the extra black sheep. Her father hardly noticed when she was around and Irene and her were always head-butting. They both always made her feel as if she was destined to fail in no matter what she did. If not for Toby, Sarah would hardly be putting up a good resistance against this twisted game.

What was she to do now? She wasn't allowed to use outside help, she had to rely on her own wits this time around. No matter how many times she went over the riddle in her head, she couldn't put two and two together. Well, if she could just find Hoggle then at least she could have some company in the mean time. Her steps hurried at the thought until she finally broke into a run. After spending a good deal of her afternoon walking around the castle, she had gotten a hang of where most things were.

Oddly enough, some doors were still playing mind games on Sarah. Some refused to open and others took her back to where she had just come from. Perhaps they were places Jareth didn't want her lurking around in. Sarah slammed the door that she knew would lead her outside and into the garden. She was pleased to find Hoggle spraying fairies in the far corner of the stone wall where hedges spotted with blue roses grew. She could barely keep the smile off her face as she ran toward him.

"Hoggle!"

Sarah swept the dwarf off his feet in a tight embrace. "Hoggle! Where've you been?"

"S-sarah!"

The dwarf squirmed in her arms but after a moment returned the embrace. Sarah stiffened and cracked one eye when she thought she heard him inhale. Was he..._smelling_ her? Sarah opened both eyes and decided not to comment on it. She was just way too happy to see her old friend again to care about anything else. She set him down on his feet after a moment, her large smile making her face hurt.

"Why haven't I heard from any of you in over a month?" Sarah asked, eyes full of concern as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

The dwarf twiddled with his thumbs together as he stared guiltily at his feet. "Erm- Sorry, Sarah...y-ya see we wasn't 'llowed t-ta see ya."

"What?" Sarah asked breathlessly.

"By order of King Jareth, if we was ta speak ta ya, we'd be banished...or worse, thrown in the Bog of Eternal Stench." Hoggle scowled. "That fae has been plottin' all this time to get ya back here in the Labyrinth."

"But why would you all be punished? My quarrel is with Jareth."

"He didn't wan us warnin' ya or helpin' ya find a loophole in this mess."

Sarah placed a pensive hand under her chin as she leaned against one of the moss-covered stone walls. "I won't have to find one. Thirteen weeks should be a piece of-

"S-stop!" Hoggle said frantically. He sighed exasperatingly. "Don'tcha remember the last time ya tested Jareth's patience? He sent the Cleaner after us."

"I'll take anything he can throw at me. I will get out of here before thirteen weeks are over." Sarah stared wistfully into the distance. "I have to...for Toby's sake if nothing else."

Hoggle bit his lip thoughtfully. "That boy sure can sleep."

Sarah's eyes lit up. "Sleep...that's it! Now I know what I could do to entertain Jareth tomorrow. We can do a play about Snow White! It's perfect, Hoggle," she exclaimed, "Everyone can be apart of it. Jareth said you couldn't help me solve the riddles but he didn't say you guys couldn't help me with the entertainment."

"A play?" Hoggle sighed warily, scratching the back of his neck. "Sarah, I can only help you so much."

"Hoggle, I need you. I can't be a one-woman show! That's just sad!"

"No way, get Didymus and I'm sure he be willin' ta help but don't expect me to be paradin' around in stupid costumes up on stage. You can forget it!"

"Not even if I give you this?" Sarah smirked as she unclasped both sapphire earrings from her earlobes and held them over Hoggle's head. "It's a real gem this time, you know?"

"I...well," Hoggle said, his eyes focused solely on the jewels. He shook his head and straightened himself. "Forget it. No amount of jewels will be able to persuade me to join your play."

Sarah sighed. "Well, how about I give you the earrings, anyway? And I promise that after I master my powers, I'll grant you any wish."

"Do ya take me for a fool? What powers are ya talkin' 'bout?"

"I'm serious. After I beat Jareth, some of his powers were transferred to me," Sarah said, showing him the moonstone on her finger. "He says I have to use this ring to limit my powers."

Hoggle clasped his hand over Sarah's as he inspected the ring. His eyes grew wide as his thumb brushed over the ring's surface.

"This here...this here really is a fae ring. I've only ever seen rings like this on High Court fae...amazin', human or not, this ring makes you like a princess or somethin'."

Sarah almost choked. "A princess?"

"It's a good thing too. When fair folk see you wearin' this, they will treat you as their equal." Hoggle stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm...I might be willing ta help ya out if you grant a wish of mine once ya master yer powers."

Sarah smiled. "You would've helped me even if I hadn't mentioned my newly found powers."

Hoggle looked bashfully at his feet, scratching the back of his neck. "D-don't be silly. S-so do you agree or what?"

"Alright, we've got a deal," Sarah said, smiling as she reached out to shake hands with Hoggle.

He seemed taken aback by this but after a moment returned the gesture. His eyes softened as he slowly trailed them back up to her face.

"We've really missed ya here, Sarah...sorry we couldn't come when ya needed us."

Sarah shook her head. "Don't worry about it. You had your reasons for not coming." She sighed irritably. "Stupid Jareth."

"Uh-huh," Hoggle said dryly, crossing his arms over his chest. "There's also one more thing I'd like ta get off ma chest."

"What's that?"

"Why you wearin' Jareth's clothes?"

Sarah stared blankly at him and sighed after a moment. "I couldn't be walking around in my tattered dress. I ended up finding Jareth's wardrobe by accident."

"Accident, eh?" Hoggle inspected her from head to toe, sniffing disdainfully. "Well, looks like quite the accident."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I met this goblin in the Escher room who led me to Jareth's room. I was hoping to demand he return me home but no such luck. I didn't want to continue walking around in my dress so I borrowed his clothes. Except for the pants being a little too big, the clothes do well enough," she said, tightening the leather belt around her waist.

Hoggle wrinkled his nose. "You still smell too much like Jareth in those clothes. It's a little...disturbin'. Let's go find Didymus, he might know where we can get ya some decent clothes."

"Did someone call my name?" Didymus asked, popping out from a shrub. He was attempting to tug Ambrosious free but the dog cowered and quivered, placing its paws over its eyes. "Come now, Ambrosious! You have to face the sunlight some time!"

"Didymus!" Sarah ran over toward Didymus and swept him into a hug, catching the fox offguard. "I missed you!"

"W-why if it isn't Lady Sarah!" Didymus chortled. "Fair maiden, how good it is to see you. I was scared we'd never see each other again."

Sarah nodded. "I was beginning to think the same too. Circumstances beyond my control have driven me back here...those circumstances obviously being Jareth." She raised an eyebrow at the cowering dog. "What's wrong with Ambrosious?"

Didymus sighed. "Master Ignaceous appears to have scared the wits out of my steed." He tried to reach out again for Ambrosious but he just whimpered and shrunk deeper into the shrub. "He got in his way and kicked him out of his path."

"That's terrible! How could he do such a thing?" Sarah glared behind her at the castle beyond the Goblin City. "Damn him."

She knelt down in front of the shrub, rolling up one of her long sleeves and held her hand out to Ambrosious. Her eyes locked with his and after a moment he gave her hand a tentative lick before slowly emerging from the bushes. Sarah smiled as he sidled up to her, tail wagging weakly. She scratched him behind the ear which she was sure he would enjoy.

"I'm glad to see you too, Ambrosious." She raised his chin so that he was now looking at her with his big brown eyes. "Listen, I'm gonna get revenge for you, okay? Don't you worry."

Hoggle's eyes widened. "What are ya gonna do, Sarah? Ignaceous is almost as scary as Jareth."

"I'm not scared of him," Sarah said, sounding sure of herself. "I danced with him last night at my step-mom's party. He seemed almost human when he danced with me. And you know what it means to be human?"

"What would that be?"

"Weakness," Sarah said simply, tossing her ruffled hair over her shoulder. "Being human is all about weakness. Fae or not, he still looks and even acts human sometimes. I'll find his weakness and use it against him."

"Be careful, My Lady," Sir Didymus pressed, placing a hand on Sarah's shin. "Ignaceous is not one to be trifled with."

"I understand, I'll be sure not to have my guard down around him. Now where's Ludo?" Sarah smiled warmly. "The old team isn't complete without him. I'm sure he'll want a big hug from me."

Hoggle and Sir Didymus suddenly looked uncomfortable. Sarah swallowed as the silence grew heavier and heavier. She took a step forward, furrowing her brows as she did so.

"Hoggle? Didymus? Where's Ludo?" she asked again.

Sir Didymus cleared his throat and appeared shifty-eyed. "My lady, I will not beat around the bush. You see, in your absence, things have turned quite grim here in the Underground. It's become more difficult for anyone to go through the Labyrinth. The obstacles are now much more dangerous than ever before. Now monsters are crawling all over the Labyrinth." He sighed deeply as he took off his hat and scratched the back of his head. "I'm afraid our dear friend Ludo has now become one of those monsters."

"Ridiculous," Sarah sputtered, staring at them incredulously. "Ludo's no monster, he doesn't belong out there. He must be so scared-

"He's turned into one, Sarah," Hoggle said, cutting her off mid-sentence. His eyes looked dull as he spoke. "If you lose your heart then even the most gentle of goblins will turn into monsters."

Sarah pressed her back against a wall, her eyes widening in disbelief at everything she had just heard. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her hands against her face as if to will the truth away. Yet she couldn't...not with the mournful looks presented to her when she uncovered her eyes. Hoggle saw the stricken look revealed on Sarah's face, his eyes widening in panic and worry.

"N-now don't go blamin' yourself, Sarah! None of this was yer fault. You couldn't have done nothin' to stop it from happenin'."

"He's right!" Didymus interjected. "It was out of our hands-

He was cut off mid-sentence a goblin leaped into their group out of no where. He sneered at each of them, his gaze lingering on Sarah the longest who stared back at him in surprise. He wrinkled his nose in disdain before turning back to Hoggle and Sir Didymus in a lazy manner.

"By order of Jareth, you are to are to return to your daily tasks."

Hoggle and Sir Didymus stared at each other in disbelief, simultaneously casting a look of worry in Sarah's direction. They knew what a large punishment would befall them if they defied Jareth a second time. Hoggle hesitated as he turned his attention back to the goblin messenger.

"C-can't we speak ta her for a little longer?" Hoggle asked, voice almost quivering in a pleading tone.

"Don't snivel for goodness sake," the creature scoffed. "His Majesty commands it. Your loyalty lies with him not this human girl."

Hoggle looked at a loss of words and was surprised when he turned around to find Sarah smiling at him and Didymus.

"It's fine, it can't be helped. I'll let you both get back to your duties."

_'You _are_ our duty,' _Hoggle thought sadly.

"We are terribly sorry," Didymus expressed, his hand smoothing down the unruly fur of his noble steed. "We shall return tomorrow to help you in any way we are able."

Ambrosious stepped forward to give Sarah a brief lick on the hand before scurrying off to catch up with his master and Hoggle. Sarah waved even once they had disappeared from sight. The carefully facade of a smile she had worn for them was now gone. How could she not help but feel lonely. Toby was probably crying at home, Jareth was doing everything to separate her from his friends and Ludo had turned into a monster. Sarah glanced up at the dull gray sky, shivering at a sudden chill that blew through Sarah's clothes.

She shut her eyes when the wind blew into them. She opened them after a moment in time to catch a glimpse of a golden eagle soared in wild loops as it flew in the direction of the castle beyond the Goblin City. It seemed as if it was the only thing here that wasn't devoid of color. Her eyes followed it a moment longer before slowly rising to her feet. There was no use moping around, it would get nothing accomplished. She was absolutely restless now, she had to do something to take her mind off of things. A sudden idea suddenly struck Sarah as she remembered what she had been discussing with Hoggle earlier.

* * *

The book of fairy tales was clasped tightly against Sarah's chest. A small smile graced her lips as she wandered through the halls. She had taken a visit to the library and was thrilled to find so many books with potential to be plays. This would be a good way to keep that rotten king entertained plus she could go back to doing what she loved most. It had been quite a while since she had last been in any play. The thought made Sarah stroke the side of the book, feeling nostalgia emanating from its touch.

"How long do you plan on wandering the halls like this?" a voice asked from the shadows.

Sarah stiffened up as she felt the hairs at the back of her neck stand on end. She ordered her heart beats to return to normal as she slowly turned around to face Ignaceous. He was staring at her with a blank expression with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Neither you nor Jareth commands me. If I want to take a simple walk, I don't see any harm in that."

Ignaceous smiled coyly. "Sarah, you are not a prisoner here. And seeing as how you'll be staying with us for quite some time, Jareth and I would be honored if you would join us for dinner."

"What makes you think I would want to do a thing like that?" Sarah threw back, lifting her chin. Anger flashed in her green eyes as she poked an accusatory finger into Ignaceous' chest. "Especially after you've left poor Ambrosious so scared of anyone touching him."

Ignaceous opened his mouth to say something but his face suddenly went blank. "Ah...who?"

Sara blanched. "Y-you can't be serious."

"Who's Ambrosia?"

"_Ambrosious _is Sir Didymus' noble steed! You hurt him so either go apologize or be prepared to deal with me." Normally Sarah would've felt foolish for saying such a thing but she knew that once she mastered her powers, she was going to get back at Ignaceous one way or another.

"Quite noble indeed," Ignaceous said sarcastically. "That is certainly the most cowardly steed I've ever seen. The fool was in my way, he should've moved quicker. Don't expect me to apologize to either dog or master. I do as I please without regret or remorse so don't bother getting up on your soap box, Sarah. Your efforts are in vain."

Just as he reached out for her arm, Sarah danced out of his reach with a dirty glare. For a long moment, they both stared each other down, both unwilling to relent.

"Look," Ignaceous sighed, scratching the back of his neck, the movement making his silver leaf piercing rattle around gently. "I know we got off to a rough start and all but since you're going to be here for a while, I want to get along with you. Since we're going to be spending a lot of time together, there's something you should know about me," he murmured. "And that is that I never do anything unless I know I won't regret it. I've never regretted anything and I won't start now over a fox's mangy mutt."

Sarah rose an eyebrow. "Is this your way of apologizing? You're doing a terrible job."

"Show me this hell you were speaking of earlier." Ignaceous smiled an evil smile. "I will apologize to the fox and mutt and even do something to make up for my behavior. I'll do anything you say...if you manage to make me fall to my knees that is."

"Literally or figuratively?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"Nothing, don't worry your pretty little head over it. Surely you must be feeling a bit hungry by-

He was cut off by the sound of Sarah's stomach grumbling. She blushed and looked away.

Ignaceous smirked. "No need to act so stubborn. If you're hungry, feel free to help yourself."

"I'm fine," Sarah insisted, gritting her teeth.

Just as Sarah turned away, Ignaceous was suddenly standing over her in a manner that Jareth had done so not long ago. He leaned his fist against the wall as he loomed over her, long strands of brown mixed with gold streaks tickled her face. Sarah's eyes widened at the unexpected closeness. She was even more stunned when she saw that his eyes were actually moss green with a tinge of amber around the pupil instead of the winter blue she had first witnessed. Why hadn't she noticed that the night when he had changed out of his glamour? Oh, that's right, she had been too busy being shocked over him being a Fae, and running around in the smoke while being harassed by goblins...and Jareth.

"I'm certain that if you indulged Jareth tonight, he might be able to give you a wardrobe of more comfortable clothes." He smiled, jagged canines shone in the dim light. "If you come to dinner, I'm sure you would be able to reason with Jareth." Ignaceous caught the look of interest on Sarah's face and seized it. "If it would make you more comfortable during your long stay, I hardly doubt the Goblin King will refuse you."

Sarah gave him a wary look. "Well...I am kind of hungry."

"Splendid." Ignaceous offered her his arm. "Let's get you dressed."

Before Sarah could protest, he grabbed her by the elbow and whisked them both magically into Sarah's room. Ignaceous crossed his arms behind his back as he turned to face Sarah with a grin. He began circling her, inspecting every angle of Sarah with fascination. He placed a pensive hand under his chin as he stopped just behind her. Sarah whirled around to face him, her lips pressed into a thin line of irritation.

"What are you, a vulture? What're you doing?"

"Trying to figure out what you should wear. Hmm...how do you like red?"

Sarah blinked. "Red's ok."

"Good." Ignaceous strolled over to the wardrobe, pressed his hand flat against the wood. Sarah could see the pulsations coming from within before it stopped altogether. He opened the wardrobe to reveal it was now full of many ball and evening gowns. He quickly drew out a single sleeved wrap-around red-black taffeta dress and held it out to present to her. It reminded her of her of her previous gown from before except this one was more form-fitting with less ruffles. "I don't have much imagination for women's clothing so I'm afraid this will have to do. You'll look stunning in this. Now undress."

Sarah nearly fell over at the casualty in his voice. She stared at him horrified as he blinked back at her, completely unperturbed by what he was asking of her.

"I can do it myself."

Ignaceous sighed. "Relax, you don't have anything worth getting excited over. You can't put on a corset yourself, let me help you with that." A sudden smile graced his lips. "Did I forget to mention before? I don't _like _women."

Sarah's eyes widened at the sudden implication, searching his eyes for some kind of joke but she could find none.

"Oh, I didn't know-

"Just hurry up and remove your clothes so that I can help you with your corset. Jareth is not a patient man."

Sarah frowned. "I don't need a corset."

"Nonsense, only a woman of inferior birth would be walking around with no corset. Since you will be here for a time, chances are that you will attend Beltane with Jareth and myself. You don't wish to embarrass him, do you?"

"I wish to do more than that," Sarah said, unable to stop the wicked grin from showing up.

Ignaceous tsked. "Come on, humor him. Besides corsets are quite comfortable...once you get used to them."

"And how would you know?"

"...That's not a part of my life I wish to discuss right now. Hurry, hurry, musn't keep your lord of life waiting," Ignaceous teased. He ignored Sarah's glare as he gestured for her to turn around. When Sarah wouldn't budge, he sighed. "Alright, no corset tonight then. At least let me help you with your dress. The lacings can be quite difficult to deal with."

"Again, how would you know that?"

"Again, not important."

Sarah glanced around her room and saw a door she assumed must be the lavatory. "I'll change in there and you can help me when I come out."

"However you like it, princess." Ignaceous shrugged. He sat on the bed, watching Sarah as she entered the lavatory.

Sarah quickly shed her clothes and slipped the dress over her head. She frowned at her reflection, unable to hide her distaste. She wasn't sure if she disliked herself for looking so awkward or for dressing up for Jareth of all people. This was so ridiculous, she was no ones' doll. Sighing, she stepped out of the lavatory a few moments later. She froze at the sound of Jareth's voice floating around her room.

"Good show, Sarah,_ very _good. You look good enough to eat. How about a game of Christopher Columbus visits the new world, hmm? I'll be Christopher Columbus and you be the new world...allow me to explore you."

What the hell? Sarah frantically glanced around the room but saw no sign of Jareth. The only ones in the room were her and Ignaceous...who was now doubled over in laughter. At the odd look she gave him, Ignaceous straightened up after a moment and opened his mouth only to reveal Jareth's voice coming out instead.

"Mimicry," he explained in Jareth's drawl. "It's my only talent worth mentioning."

"Ugh! That's so creepy." Sarah's face twisted in discomfort. "Don't do that around me."

"Creepy? Huh," Ignaceous placed a pensive hand under his chin, switching back to his own voice. "I've heard a lot of things said about my ability but creepy was never one of them."

"Not to your face," Sarah mumbled, turning her back to Ignaceous.

She stiffened up at the skin contact but was impressed by the quick work of his feather-light fingers.

"Come on, Sarah, suck it in."

Sarah couldn't hide the horror in her voice. "Are you calling me fat?"

"I'm just teasing you, calm down." Ignaceous quickly finished up the lacings with incredible speed. He turned her around to inspect her, looking quite pleased with himself as if he had created Sarah himself. "Lovely, just lovely. I have great taste after all it seems. Now would you like me to do something with your hair or add some jewlary perhaps?"

Sarah waved her hand in dismissal. "No, forget it. Let's just get going."

"As you wish."

Ignaceous grabbed her arm and they were transported into the dining room. Sarah had to steady herself from lack of ever normally traveling by magic. Ignaceous steadied her with both hands gripping her shoulders and led her toward the table, side-stepping bustling goblins who carried trays of food.

"Why is it so dim in here?"

"Well, then." Ignaceous cleared his throat, ignoring her question and turned to leave. "I'll leave you be."

"Wait." Sarah bit her lip as a sudden sense of dread filled her. He wasn't going to leave her alone with Jareth, was he? "Where are you going?"

"To eat, of course."

"You won't be eating with us?"

Ignaceous gave her a sly look. "I'm not one to intrude. Excuse me, Miss Sarah." He gave an illustrious bow before exiting the room.

Sarah gave the dining table an uneasy look before edging closer to it. The smell of the steaming food was awfully tempting. She stood in front of the table, wondeirng where she could grab a chair to sit when suddenly she fell backward and fell into a chair. A goblin appeared beside her, pointedly not looking at her as he set a silver platter in front of her. He lifted the metal cover and revealed a slab of meat with green beans on the side and mashed potatos slathered in gravy.

"Just holler if ye need anything else," the goblin muttered.

"Umm...yes, thank you."

Just as the goblin turned to leave, he glanced over his shoulder to see Sarah lifting a piece of meat to her mouth. He let out a cry of alarm and took out a large pin from his sleeve. He threw it at Sarah, effectively tossing the fork away from her mouth. He let out a sigh of relief and went to go retrieve the fork. He gave it to a random passing goblin who took a clean fork out of his sleeve. The goblin quickly scurried over to Sarah and gave her a nervous look as he set the fork down.

"M-miss Sarah, ye can't eat before the king. Those are the rules, ye know?" he said matter-of-factly.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "I'm hungry, I don't have to be waiting for anyone."

"It's against tradition. Please, please, Jareth will take it out on me if ye do not heed my warnings."

"What is your name?"

The question caught the little goblin offguard.

"Uhh...erm Pondscum."

"Nice to meet you, Pondscum." Sarah grabbed an apple from the table. "I'll handle Jareth, I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you guys on my account. Here you must be hungry."

Pondscum stared at her with wide onyx eyes. "I-I umm that's very kind, Miss Sarah but I'm afraid I can't accept. I couldn't let ye do something like that."

"It's no problem, go on...take it."

Pondscum eyed the apple greedily and after a few moments of indecision, he held out a blue-green tinged hand to accept. He mumbled a quick thanks before scurrying off as if the devil were at his heels. No doubt scared that Jareth was going to walk in at any moment. Sarah blinked as she stared at his retreating back, smiling after a moment. She returned her attention to her food, wincing at the grumbling of her stomach. She jolted in her seat when she felt an enormous pressure build up in the room. The candles dimmed considerably before blowing out entirely. Sarah glanced around her frantically in the darkness. After a moment, the candles shot back up from their wicks, burning much brighter than before. Sarah watched as the row of candles lit up until it stopped at the end of the table where the Goblin King was now reclined in his chair. Chin resting on his gloved hand and dressed in burgundy, he gave her a coy look as he raised a crystal goblet to his lips.

"Glad you decided to join me, Sarah. "

Sarah felt herself flush at the knowing, satisfied look on Jareth's face. She clutched her knees tightly and looked away from him.

"I didn't really have much of a choice. I have a lot of things to talk to you about."

Jareth raised an eyebrow. "Really, now? What would that be?"

"If-If I'm going to be staying here, I'm going to need some clothes."

"Why, precious, you look stunning in what you're wearing." Jareth smirked. "I'm going to have to thank Ignaceous for that later."

Sarah glared at him. "You try wearing a dress everyday and see if you find it comfortable! Look, I don't mean to sound demanding but I really need some normal clothes."

The Goblin King leaned back in his chair, one boot resting against the table as he stared thoughtfully into his wine. His flaxen hair shadowed the contours and planes of his face.

"You are quite a vexing creature. One who won't even try to indulge the man whose been so generous to you."

"This again?" Sarah rolled her eyes and was starting to rise out of her seat but one smoldering look from Jareth and she was seated once more, swallowing down a squeak and quickly averting her gaze.

Jareth sighed. "I cannot refuse you. If clothes are really what you desire then I have no qualms about it. They shall be waiting for you when you get back to your room."

"There's something else," Sarah murmured. She switched her gaze back to Jareth's across the table, feeling her bravado diminish as her eyes locked with his blue and brown eyes. "...Show me Ludo."

"Is that an order?" Jareth asked, a wicked glint in his eyes challenging her.

Sarah shrunk further into her seat at his penetrating gaze. She silently reminded herself that she wasn't the scared little girl that Jareth had met three years ago. She gave a shuddering breath as she straightened herself up in her chair.

"A request," she said simply, dipping her spoon into her soup. "I have to see Ludo."

"Will you die if you do not?"

"Possibly."

Jareth felt his jaw twitch irritably at the answer but one look at her and he saw how broken she looked. He lifted his hand, palm up and a crystal fell into it. He placed it on the table and it began rolling of its own accord toward Sarah. She blinked as it rolled to a halt in front of her. She glanced from the crystal to Jareth and back again. Seeing the annoyed look on Jareth's face, she quickly picked up the crystal with both hands. For a few seconds, she could only see the glimmering surface of the crystal, before the inside began clouding up until finally an image was formed. It revealed a sparkling dark cavern where a howling creature was curled inside itself like a ball.

"Ludo!"

Sarah leaped to her feet instantly, clutching the crystal as if it were a life line. The dear, kind, gentle friend she had once known was no more. Now Ludo resembled a cross of his former self and a beast. Its cries full of torment broke Sarah's heart and just as she felt she was on the verge of tears, the crystal suddenly disappeared from her hands. She blinked away her tears as her hands came back to rest at her sides. She turned to Jareth with an accusing look and strode up to him. Jareth watched her curiously from his seat, his meal completely forgotten as he focused on the angry young woman in front of him.

"You can't possibly be thinking of blaming me, now do you?" Jareth drawled. "It can happen to any goblin if darkness manages to grab ahold of their heart. Your friend wasn't strong enough to fight the evil lurking in his heart. Do not think that any of your friends are pure, Sarah," he hissed. "Everyone has a seed of evil inside of them. Even you, the champion and heroine of the Labyrinth."

For a long time there was silence as Sarah contemplated this in bewilderment. She had no comeback to this particular comment. She silently mused on Ludo's whereabouts. It had clearly looked like Ludo was trapped inside an oubliette. But where would she start looking? There were hundreds of oubliettes crawling all over the Labyrinth.

"Why so quiet, Sarah?" Jareth's eyes flashed in amusement. "Not that I mind. Silence certainly become you."

Sarah glared at him. "I was just thinking about how I'm going to embarrass you for the second time."

"Really, now?"

"Yes, I've already decided that I can't afford to lose," Sarah said, her voice softening suddenly. "Toby's waiting for me at home. I can't lose him a second time." Her eyes dropped down to the floor, unable to meet his eyes at what she was going to say next. " I almost believed you had a heart three years ago- that there was something alive and warm beating in your chest but I won't let myself be tricked again...Still, there's one thing that confuses me about your lack of heart."

"Oh?" Jareth stared at her dryly. "What might that be?"

Before Sarah could utter the words, Pondscum came waddling in with a letter in hand. "Your Majesty," he panted. "Your Majesty, a letter just arived for you!"

Jareth snatched the letter from him, tearing open the wax seal, and scanning the contents of the letter with unsurprising speed. His eyebrows furrowed together, folding the letter and slipping it back into the envelope before turning back to Sarah.

"Since there's no need for any further discussion, enjoy your meal. I will excuse myself."

Jareth placed his hands on the table to steady himself as he rose from his chair. He turned to leave with a sweep of his cloak, slinking out of the room almost as if he was made of the shadows the candles that danced over. With that said, he left Sarah feeling more alone and confused then she had felt than when he had first come in.

* * *

After the awkward dinner, Ignaceous had appeared standing outside of the dining room and had offered to escort her to her room. He leaned against the wall opposite to her bedroom door and bid her goodnight. Just as Sarah turned to go, she hesitated and turned to look at him over her shoulder.

"Has umm...has Jareth always been like that? I don't understand him."

Ignaceous raised an eyebrow at the question. He placed a pensive hand under his chin. "Jareth...is a complicated man. I should know, I've known him for mind-boggling amount of time. A fact I take no pleasure in. Jareth never does anything without good reason. "

"That doesn't tell me why he's so twisted."

Ignaceous chuckled. "Who knows? I'm the entirely wrong person to ask about his past, Jareth would kill me if he found out. But I can tell you that Jareth has _always _gotten what he wants at any cost." Ignaceous narrowed his eyes darkly as he said this, taking in Sarah's every slightest change of expression. "If it seems like he can't get what he wants, he treats the situation as a game until what he wants eventually comes to him. If he loses...well, let's just say he's a _very_ sore loser." His mouth twitched into a smirk. "He's the obsessive type, he'll never stop."

"What does he obsess about?" Sarah's brows drew together and she frowned deeply. "He sounds like just another royal brat."

Ignaceous chuckled. "There's more to it than that. He'll obsess if it's something unattainable, resistant and..." He reached a hand out toward Sarah's face and gently ran his finger tips over her jaw. He watched her with interest as she stiffened under his touch. "Well, I guess you'll find out sooner or later just what makes Jareth tick. In the mean time, I think he and I will both greatly enjoy finding out exactly what makes _you_ tick."

Sarah frowned and backed away into the open door way. "You make it sound as if you've already got me figured out."

"I don't know yet but I might have an idea." Ignaceous gave her that same flat intense stare that he had given her on the dance floor. "...Goodnight, Sarah. Pleasant dreams," he whispered before turning and walking off down the dimply lit hallway.

Sarah stared at his back until he disappeared around the corner. Finally, she was able to let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding in. Something about Ignaceous was really unnerving. Sarah shook her head at herself for letting herself be easily intimidated. She went into her room, stumbling her way across it to turn on her lamp. For a long moment, she looked around her bedroom in wonder. It was all the same down to the last detail. Sarah sat on her bed, testing it by bouncing gently to check the springs. There just wasn't a bed like hers. She remembered how uncomfortable she had felt sleeping on hotel beds whenever she and her family went on trips. She felt like a part of her had returned home...well, semi-home.

Sarah placed the napkin full of cookies on her lap. She had lost her appetite after Jareth had left but she always had room for a little dessert. As soon as her teeth sunk into the cookie, she felt a shiver of pleasure run through her. What was in these cookies? She took several more bites until she had consumed the whole cookie. As she ate, Hoggle's words echoed in her head, _'Be careful, Sarah. That ring protects you from falling under the influence of Fae food but eat too much and there may be dire consequences.'_ Sarah stopped mid-chew on her third cookie and decided to save them for tomorrow night. She wrapped the handkerchief into a knot and stuffed it into her drawer on her nightstand.

Even after a long day, the night still felt young and Sarah was as restless as ever. She walked across her room to reach the glass doors, and was suddenly standing on a balcony that overlooked the entire Labyrinth bathed in moonlight. The night breeze was cool against her skin, and she breathed in the scent of lavender and wormwood. It was just like she remembered...and yet so different from her previous light-hearted visit to the noted that she hadn't changed much within the last three years. It was almost as if the Labyrinth itself was growing up with her. Her smile fell at the memory of Ludo's howls of torment.

She had thirteen weeks to save him from such a fate. Except there was a large difference this time, more was at stake here than just her little brother. Should she lose, she would end up losing her entire family and life in the Aboveground. Sarah bit her lip and furrowed her eyebrows at the thought. It was bad enough having to tolerate her step-mother and dealing with a father who was hardly ever around. If she lost this challenge, she'd never be able to forgive herself. The memory of Toby's crying face sent a rush of guilt in Sarah.

So lost Sarah was in her thoughts that she noticed too late that she wasn't alone. Above her, several feet up was a window from which Jareth sat with one leg draped over the edge and other was drawn up to his chest. But he wasn't looking at Sarah, instead his gaze was fixated on the twirling crystal balls on his hand. His head was bowed forward, the night breeze playing with his flaxen tendrils. Sarah felt herself stiffened up when she saw his head slowly lift up. A small gasp escaped her and she slammed her back against the creeper-covered wall, hiding herself from view. Sarah shut her eyes tightly, her chest heaving with every breath she took.

There was no way she was going to talk to him after that argument they had just had earlier. She would slip back into her room as quietly as she could and go to sleep. Just as Sarah edged closer to open the glass door, a voice suddenly pierced through the night. It was soft at first and slowly growing stronger, sounding quite passionate and raw with emotion. The words made Sarah's hand falter on the bronze door knob, seeing her shaken and ruffled image staring back at her. The words had cut through her and had left a lasting impression in her heart. She stepped backward, feeling her heart start beating faster than normal.

_"Shadows of a dream, fragments of imagination...echoes of a silent scream. Memories of a life that never happened. I saw the truth inside your eyes- feelings that were left unspoken."_

Letting go of her inhibitions, Sarah walked closer to the ledge and listened to Jareth's song. She leaned against it with her head tilted up in Jareth's direction. She closed her eyes, feeling the song submerge and spread out into her bloodstream. Jareth's voice was a mixture of sorrow and nostalgia. She perched herself on the ledge and gave her undivided attention to the lovely and bittersweet words. Her hands grabbed the railing on either side of her lest she fall.

_"Had I a heart, it would be broken. All I ever was means nothing. All I ever wanted slips away. All I ever had descends to ruin and you...are my destroyer. Shadows of a dream, fragments of imagination...echoes of a silent scream. Memories of a life that never happened. What took a thousand years to build, you undid in-_

Sarah wasn't able to hear the rest since she felt herself lose balance and begin to fall. Her scream cut through the night air like a knife as she plummeted to the ground. Her first instinct was to wrap her arms around her head to possibly prevent herself from a worse impact. Her body felt like a lifeless doll that was being tossed aside. Just when she thought she was hoping she'd land in a soft bush of flowers, her body was caught by something. Sarah looked through the crack of her fingers to find that creepers had coiled around her arms and legs. She began struggling against it but stopped when she realized how stupid she'd be to fight against it when it had clearly just saved her life.

Slowly, the vines began its ascend of carrying Sarah. Just as Sarah was about to step onto the railing of her balcony, the vines pulled tighter and carried her toward...Jareth's window. Sarah's eyes widened and let herself be carried toward it, feeling her heart start to hammer against her ribcage. The vines carried her through the large window and set her none-too-gently onto the carpeted floor. Sarah glared daggers at the vines as they slunk out of the room. She glanced behind her to find Jareth leaning against the wall near the fireplace. She stood up and dusted herself off, feeling awkward with him openly staring at her like that.

"To think that I leave you alone for a while and you nearly fall to your death." Jareth's mouth was creased into a grin that did quite not reach his eyes. "What did you think you were doing in the middle of the night?"

"Couldn't sleep," Sarah said simply, shrugging her shoulder.

Jareth raised a winged eyebrow. "Really, now? Do I even get a thank you for saving you just now?"

"...Thank you."

"Do you need to make it sound so forced?" Jareth gave her a mocking look before settling down into his armchair. He glanced at her over his shoulder. "You're welcome to sit if you'd like."

Sarah shook head despite the fact that he wasn't looking at her anymore. "No, I should really be getting back to my room."

"Are you nervous, Sarah?" Jareth asked, a teasing tone lingering in his voice. "...Of being alone with me that is?"

Sarah scoffed. "Of course not, why should I be?"

"I supposed you're right." Jareth shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why should I scare you? I have _no power over you _apparently."

"It's as true now as it was three years ago."

Jareth's eyes flashed. "Does it seem so long ago to you?"

The way he said it made it sound accusatory. Sarah blinked back at him, feeling very uncertain as she tugged on the hem of her shirt absently. She saw a full length mirror a few feet from her and turned her back on him to admire it. She traced a finger along the bronze framing, watching Jareth watching her through the mirror. He gave her an intense look that revealed nothing as he watched her.

"Actually, sometimes it feels like my adventure in the Labyrinth was only yesterday. I still dream of all of the weird things I saw here. It's all so vivid in my mind especially since I'm back." Sarah gasped lightly. Why had she suddenly felt nostalgic? And in front of the Goblin King no less. She jerked around to face Jareth who was watching her as attentive as ever. It was almost like whenever he was around, she let her guard down. "I should go to sleep now if I plan on beating you at your own game _twice_," Sarah said, feeling her bravado return.

Jareth's simply _stared _at her and stayed silently for a long moment. The next thing Jareth asked completely threw Sarah off. "Do you dream of me, Sarah?"

Sarah blushed profusely. "Of course not, don't be stupid!"

"The lady doth protest too much," Jareth teased. A crystal appeared in the palm of his hand and he held it out toward Sarah. "Shall we take a look at your dreams, hmm?"

"You can't!"

Sarah lurched forward to grab it from him but the instant her hand touched his, he grabbed her wrist and held it high above her. She crushed her other hand into a fist and was about to deliver a punch when he suddenly grabbed both hands single-handedly. He smirked as he watched her struggle before making the crystal ball in his hand disappear. He dropped Sarah's hands, regarding her with cool as he leaned back in his chair to observe her flushed face.

"Relax, precious. You _defeated _me, remember? I can't look inside your dreams anymore." Jareth gave her a dark look as he watched her cheeks grow a brighter shade of scarlet.

Sarah looked at her feet, wishing she could somehow blend into the carpet she was standing on. "P-putting that aside, th-there's something on my mind."

Jareth arched an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"Why..." Sarah hated how her voice cracked on the word. She swallowed as she raised her green eyes to meet Jareth's mismatched ones. "Why did you make my room look like that?"

"Would you believe that I want you to feel at home?"

"No," Sarah said flatly, narrowing her eyes at him. "Not for a second. You haven't exactly given me good reason to trust you, ya know."

"Then there's no need to further discuss this, is there?" Jareth stood up, now towering over Sarah. The room suddenly felt ten degrees lower. "Just think of it as a gift, precious. Don't overthink it too much." His hand hovered near Sarah's temple, his eyes flashing with a strange light. "...I wouldn't want you to pop a blood vessel in that pretty little head of yours on my account."

Sarah jerked away from him. "Piss off, Jareth."

"Don't try my patience. Leave now before I change my mind about making you my consort." A mirthless smile curved his lips. "Unless you wish to be deflowered by me of course."

The cold intensity in his eyes told Sarah everything she needed to know. She almost squeaked when he suddenly advanced toward her. She took two backward steps before swinging around to exit the room. The door closed behind her loudly as she flew down the hallway without looking back once.

* * *

The pictures where Sarah would normally be standing beside Toby were now gone. Gone. Toby flipped haphazardly from page to page, his jaw set and lips pressed into a thin line of worry as he continued to search for his sister's face. The lines on his forehead creased with every turn of a page. It didn't make any sense. How was it that only he could remember Sarah? Whenever he tried to bring up Sarah in a conversation, his parents would assume he was talking about an imaginary friend. His sister was missing and they thought he playing some stupid fantasy game. It aggravated Toby to such an extent. He threw the photo album at the wall and collapsed onto his back, staring defeatedly up at the ceiling.

His parents were downstairs watching a movie, assuming Toby was in bed and completely unaware of their missing daughter. Toby felt his eyes begin to water and choked out a sob. That scary man he had heard of millions of times from Sarah's stories had stolen her from him. Jareth. He shuddered that he had once idolized the man. Toby's eyes wandered and settled on a familiar scarlet leather-bound book perched on top of Sarah's nightstand. He shot up ram rod straight as he recalled the words Sarah told him never to utter. Toby frowned. This was an emergency, he would just have Sarah scold him later about it. He had to get her back one way or another.

Toby sat on his haunches as he took a deep breath, his bloodshot eyes focused on the glass doors that led to the balcony.

"I wish the Goblin King would come take me away," he said loud and clear, amazed his voice wasn't quaking with fear. "...Right now."

He waited...nothing. Toby blinked and surveyed the room for any sign of the mighty Goblin King. Sure enough he was the only one in the room. Toby scratched his cheek pensively. He was sure he had said the correct words so why hadn't- He cut himself off mid-thought when a dark shadow suddenly loomed from behind him. He felt the hair at the back of his neck prickle and a deep chill run down his spine. Toby gulped and slowly turned around to face the Goblin King. He blinked when he saw the visitor wasn't Jareth at all. His face once contorted with fear was now twisted in annoyance.

"You!" Toby said, jumping to his feet and pointing an accusing finger at the intruder. "You danced with my sister last night and sent all those goblins to the party! You nearly scared my mom to death!"

Ignaceous smiled, trying to appear modest but failed epically. "Yes, that was me. What can I do for you?"

"I didn't call for _you_! I called for Jareth!"

"Jareth's tied up with his own engagements at the moment. I'll be filling in the whole Goblin King-kidnapping role for a while." Ignaceous surveyed the room with disinterest. He looked smug when he saw a shelf of stuffed animals on the wall behind the bed. "How old is your sister to still be playing with dolls?"

Ignaceous sat on Sarah's four poster bed, testing the springs with his weight before laying down with arms crossed behind his head. His boots were crossed at the ankle. No matter how you looked at him, he seemed to be completely at home with his surroundings. Toby stood behind one of the bedposts, feeling half-suspicious, half-annoyed with the guy.

Toby frowned. "So are you gonna take me to the castle beyond the Goblin City or what?"

"That's not how it works for that would be cheating," Ignaceous murmured behind closed eyes. "I assume you called on me so you could save your sister. I'm afraid you'll have to run the Labyrinth if you intend on rescuing your charming sister Sarah. You must know that the Labyrinth is extremely dangerous-"

"I'll do it."

Ignaceous cracked an eye open to look at Toby who was standing at the edge of the bed, his eyes holding that same defiance and determination as Sarah. He didn't know what it was about this boy. Something about him really irked him. He looked more closely at Toby's unwavering gaze and his eyes widened when he saw faint, blue glowing outlines on Toby's form. Ignaceous' eyes narrowed. So that was it. Much like his sister, Toby was giving off a glow that only dreamers seemed to possess. He scoffed as he tossed his legs over the bed. He snatched a stuffed animal and began tossing it from hand to hand before chucking it over his shoulder.

"It will take more than just determination to get Sarah back. You're what, four years old? A child you won't last a day in the Labyrinth."

For a moment, Toby looked crestfallen. "But...I'm only as old as I feel, right?" he asked, hoping for the impossible. "If Sarah could beat the Labyrinth then I can too."

"I'm not in the mood to be arguing with a child," Ignaceous said, rolling his eyes. He held up a hand to silence Toby's banter. "Just because I doubt you'll come back alive doesn't mean I won't take you there, mind you. Due to your current state, it hardly seems fair to throw you to the lions. That's why..." Ignaceous kneeled down so that he was now more or less at Toby's level. The young child blinked back at him. "I'm going to give you this."

Ignaceous had reached inside his eye and pulled out a tiny flickering light, holding it out toward Toby. "Do you want it?"

"What is it?"

"It's a shard of my power, it will come in handy. Choose any item in this room so that I may transfer my power to it."

Toby scurried over to Sarah's desk and came back with a pen. Ignaceous resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he grabbed the pen from Toby.

"Alright...the pen is mightier than the sword." Ignaceous fazed the shard of light into the pen, and they both watched as the pen glowed a dim, amber glow before stretching in size and form. A black sheathed sword with a golden half-crescent, half sun handguard now rested in Ignaceous' hands. (A/N: Yes, I sort of borrowed the pen/sword idea from Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief so sue me. lol.) He nodded. "This will do well enough."

It took a moment for Toby to recover from his daze, and managed to tear his gaze away from the sword to Ignaceous. "Let's go. I'm all fidgety, I hate it when I get fidgety. When I get fidgety, I start having second thoughts."

"Wait, even with this weapon, a child has never run the Labyrinth before. It would be suicide to send you in as you are now." Ignaceous rubbed his temples before an idea crossed his features. He smiled a dark smile. "How badly did you say you wanted to save your sister?"

Toby bit his lower lip, not liking the predatory gleam in his eye. "I'll do anything. She's always done so much for me. It's only right that I return the favor."

"Even if you spend the rest of your life as a goblin should you fail to save her?"

"...Y-yes," Toby said, scowling when his voice came out as a squeak. "I-I mean so what if I become a goblin? It might actually be pretty cool. I've always wondered what it would be like to be one." He frowned when he saw Ignaceous staring at him in amusement. Toby stood on top of a stool so that they were at a good height with one another. Even though, Toby only reached his chest it didn't faze him in the slightest. "Besides, what's there to be scared of? I already know I'm going to win."

"How can you be so sure? Can you see the future, boy?"

Toby snorted. "I wish. Then I could know when to walk into my parent's room without knocking. Can't tell you how many times I've walked in on them playing ghost under the bed sheets." He sighed. "My dad never lets me play. He says there's a height requirement."

Ignaceous chuckled and suppressed the urge to joke on the matter. His expression suddenly turned serious. "Tell me why you think you're going to win."

"I'm going to win because that's how the story's supposed to go, isn't it? The knight or whatever goes to rescue the damsel in distress from the bad guy."

"The rules change sometimes." Ignaceous stared down at the small boy with bitterness and disdain that seemed aimed at himself. "As you grow older, you'll realize the heavy weight of this truth." He shook his head at himself. "You're as strange as your sister. You both seem to catch me so offguard and make me _almost _regard you both as my equals sometimes. Very well then. You said you'd do anything to save her?" Ignaceous gave him a deceptively friendly smile. "Let's shake on it, shall we?"

Toby hesitated several moments before outstretching his tiny hand into Ignaceous' larger one. His eyes widened when he suddenly felt a surge of power course through his body. He yanked himself out of Ignaceous' touch, falling blindly into Sarah's velvet curtains. The curtains collapsed on top of Toby, and Ignaceous watched blankly as Toby's muffled gasps and writhing filled the room. A young man's foot peeked out from under the curtains, twitching somewhat from the aftershock. Toby's head popped up, eyes dazed and face beaded with sweat.

"What did you do?" Toby barked. He started at the strange new voice coming from his own throat.

Ignaeous let out a barely surpressed laugh. Toby glanced down at himself and gasped softly at his state. His pajamas had shrunk and were uncomfortably tight on his body. His shirt looked like it would tear at any second while his pants looked more like boxers. He breathed out lightly and sure enough the shirt tore in two. Toby grimaced and tossed the tattered pieces aside. He was going to get punished for that later for sure. He tried standing up albeit wobbly as he crossed Sarah's room to reach her full-length mirror. His crystal clear blue eyes widened in wonder. A large, bony hand touched his face and played with his now stringy, dirty blonde bangs hanging over his eyes. The planes and contours of his face were sharper, not containing any trace of baby fat he had had only moments earlier. He noted with distaste that his ears protruded somewhat.

He had always wondered what he would look like when he was older and now that he saw his teenaged self, he noticed how very unlike his parents he looked. He was broad shouldered yet lanky in build. The fact that he saw a bit of a resemblance between him and Jareth was sort of unsettling. Toby winced at the sudden needle stabbing pain he felt coursing through his new body. Toby winced and felt his eyes water, keeping himself in check as he studied his trembling hands that were pulsating with energy. It felt as if there was a war raging inside his body. Ignaceous now stood behind him, noticeably a few inches taller than Toby.

"Sorry if that hurt," Ignaceous said, holding out the sheathed sword to Toby. "I was testing your will. That pain you feel right now is your bones adjusting to your new body. It will pass after a while."

"And if I had failed?" Toby asked, turning around to grab the sword. He unsheathed it slowly and watched as the light ran along the blade, his expression grim as he tried not to sniffle. He could literally feel his bones crack and clench inside him, bending him in the most excruciatingly painful way. "What would have happened then?"

"You would've died," Ignaceous said simply. Toby nearly fell over at the casualty in his tone. At Toby's doe-like expression, he quickly added, "But I knew you would pass so there was no danger of such an event."

Toby's glared at him. "You might've mentioned that to me before."

Ignaceous rolled his eyes. "Worry not, boy, where you're going, there will be a need to strengthen your resolve. You can't have any darkness in your heart if you intend on rescuing fair Sarah. So now is no time to get _fidgety_ as you put it." He took another look at Toby before bursting into laughter. "I can scarcely look at you without laughing. I suppose a change of wardrobe is in order." He snapped his fingers and immediately Toby's silly attire was changed into a white poet's shirt with black trousers, boots and a cloak. "Surprisingly suits you. Well, then, is there anything you must bring along?"

"Umm...no. But I think I should say goodbye to my parents first."

Just as Toby ran toward the doorway, Ignaceous appeared in the doorway, arm outstretched to block his path. He sighed in exasperation and shook his head.

"You've obviously never done this before. Listen, carefully. Adults never tend to act rationally when it comes to the supernatural so you must not say a word." He tilted his head to the side, looking amused. "Your mother is feint of heart. She surely won't take this very well. I will be leaving a changeling to act in your place until you come back with Sarah."

"Why're you helping me so much?" Toby asked, rubbing his nose.

Ignaceous smiled slowly. "So he's not _as _naive as he looks. Well, let's just say I'd like to see the Goblin King get his just desserts for once." He waved his hand absently behind him and glass doors of the balcony swung open. "Imagine the boy that was once heir of the Goblin King returning to the Underground only to overthrow him. The idea is too delicious to pass up. There's no turning back after this, Toby, either you come or not."

Toby furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at the castle beyond the Goblin City. The sky was gray and a chilly breeze had swept through the already cold and empty room. His hand clutched the handguard of his sword as he pondered Igaceous' words. He gave a shuddering breath before stepping forward, feeling his resolve returning little by little. He gave the slightest discernible nod of his head making Ignaceous grin wickedly. They were suddenly both moving inhumanly fast as though they were made of lightning. The whole time they neared the Labyrinth Toby's thoughts turned to Sarah.

_'Please be alright, Sarah, I'm coming for you.'_

A/N: :P Ooh looks like Toby's entered the game now as the knight. All the important chess pieces are in order except for the queen and bishop who have yet to arrive. Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things develop. I think the transformation Toby went through was something only a kid like Toby could handle. He's already been through the experience of being kidnapped by goblins even if he doesn't remember too well. You guys will get to know my portrayal of Toby as the chapters pass. He's just four so there's little he can do...but not if he has a bit of magic to help him. Loved writing all the JarethxSarah scenes. XD They're so cute together, I can't wait until I reveal everything I have in store for them. PLZ R/R if you want me to upload chapter three super quick.


	3. Ghost of Birthday's Past

**A/N: ****Sorry for the late update. I was a bit annoyed I was getting so many Favorite Story and Story Alerts sent to my email instead of any actual feedback on my story. Not only that but this chapter was super hard to write. I was just never satisfied. There was something always missing and I just kept thinking, "I have to give my readers the best. I have to make this something worth reading." so I kept trying to make it as unflawed as possible. Hope you guys like the ending. Oh, btw for those of you who already know, Samhain (Halloween) and Beltane usually fall pretty close to each other, but I changed it around to suit the ideas I have planned for this story. **

___"Who do you think you are, running around leaving scars? Collecting your jar of hearts. Tearing love apart. You're gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul." - Jar of hearts~ Christina Perri_

**Mortal Instrument**

_Chapter 3: Ghost of Birthday's Past_

"Are you concentrating, Sarah?" Ignaceous asked, dubious of her answer as he paced in front of her.

"I'm concentrating, I'm concentrating!"

Sarah was doing a hand stand against her bedroom wall, her face twisted with focus and weariness. She was clad in jeans and dark blue poet's shirt under a lavender vest with her bare feet pressed against the wall. She had her hair pulled back into a scrunchie lest it get in the way.

"Remember you must clear your mind. I know you're very easily overwhelmed by your emotions but you have to learn to turn your mind into a clean slate and _only _pay attention to the task at hand."

"I know that!"

Just as Sarah said this, a whole bunch of blueberries had apparated from thin air and had rolled to a halt at Ignaceous' feet. He cocked an eyebrow at this and gave Sarah a knowing look.

"_'I'm concentrating' _she says." Igaceous gave her a mocking look as he finished a perfect mimicry that sounded exactly like Sarah. He bent down to pick up a blueberry. "I told you to concentrate on simply turning an orange into a peach. It's not that hard. Both fruits are small, round and orange. Why blueberries?"

Sarah glared at him. "I was thinking of having some blueberry pancakes, OK? I'm way too hungry to focus on anything else."

Ignaceous sighed. "I suppose it will do neither of us any good if you faint from hunger. Alright, then let's go get you food." He smiled as he transported both of them to the dining room where the table was covered in an array of food; blueberry pancakes, buttered toast, biscuits, muffins, sausage links, milk and orange juice. "You may not be very good at transfiguration but your mind was so focused on blueberry pancakes that you created your own blueberries. While not exactly what I asked, I'd say that's somewhat of an improvement. Ah, before I forget." He dipped his hand into his waistcoat and pulled out her ring. "...Your limiter, princess."

Sarah placed the ring on her finger, feeling the rosy heat she always felt every time she slipped the ring back on. She sat down at the end of the table with Ignaceous sitting on her right. Sarah immediately piled a tower of pancakes onto her plate and smothered them in butter and syrup. Ignaceous rose an eyebrow at this as he busily cut his meager stack of pancakes. He took a slice of it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully as he observed Sarah.

_'You'd think she's never eaten a decent meal in her life.'_

"Slow down." Ignaceous sighed. "Try savoring the food instead of wolfing it down without a second thought."

"I'm doing both." Sarah grinned as she reached for a sausage link. "I have to finish everything. I wouldn't want anything to go to waste."

Ignaceous rolled his eyes. "You can't possibly finish everything on this table."

"I can try. It's better not to take anything for granted, ya know?" Sarah took several bites of her buttered toast with gusto before downing it with orange juice. "By the way, where's Jareth? I haven't really seen him around much."

"He's been very busy with the preparations for Beltane so I wouldn't expect him to join us for meals too often."

"What exactly is Beltane?"

"Beltane celebrates all of the living world. It's a holiday of fertility and creativity." Ignaceous smirked and stared at Sarah through hooded eyes. "It's also a time we give thanks to all the different kinds of pleasures our bodies give us such as sight, hearing, touch, taste and especially...sensual pleasure."

Sarah nearly choked on her juice, staring in horror at Ignaceous. "S-something like that is celebrated in the Underground?"

Ignaceous nodded, his slender neck dipping elegantly. "Of course. When you can live forever, one of the most wonderful things is to know the pleasures of the flesh." He gave Sarah a smug look. "Tell me, if you had the opportunity to live forever, wouldn't you use your immortality the exact same way?"

"A lot of people seem to think of immortality as something great but it sounds lonely unless you have someone to share it with." Sarah blushed when Ignaceous arched a brow at her. "It's not about the idea of never having to die, it's about what you would _do_ with your time if you could live forever."

There was a long silence as Ignaceous contemplated this. He had a look of disdain on his face as he stared at the floor but it was clear that her words had had an effect on him. There seemed to be some far off look of longing that didn't escape Sarah's attention. Sarah chuckled as a sudden idea came back to her. She tried to turn back to her food to distract herself but she had already caught Ignaceous' attention.

"What's so funny?" Ignaceous asked, sounding miffed.

"Nothing." Sarah shrugged with a smile. "It's just that I wonder how I could have ever thought you and Jareth were similar."

"Oh? How so?"

"It's not that you both physically resemble each other but when I met you a week ago, I thought that you and Jareth had similar a air about you but now I see you're both completely different."

"Explain."

"Well, Jareth broods while you choose to make a joke out of everything. Where Jareth schemes, you make your intentions known. While Jareth is the villain, you're more of an antihero."

"We're both complicated men, Sarah," Ignaceous drawled. "There's many layers to our personas. Like that night at your step-mother's party, I only allowed you to see a glimpse of my true self."

"Then whose the real you?"

Ignaceous grinned. "Why so interested?"

"I'm not. I just want to know why you are the way you are. Would you mind if I asked you something?"

"You just did."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Can I ask you more than one thing?"

"Depends."

"What kind of title do you have? What's your relationship with Jareth?"

"I think I'll choose to answer only one of those questions." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose I'll answer the first. I was once a prince of a neighboring kingdom. I believe you've heard of Queen Mab. I am her son though I haven't had contact with her in centuries."

Sarah's eyes bugged out. "_That's_ your mom?" Her brows drew together. "Wait, you said you would only answer one question."

"You caught me in a good mood." Ignaceous shrugged. "So I gave you a twofer. Maybe I'll answer your other questions later if I find myself in a good mood again."

Sarah frowned. "You said you haven't spoken to your mother in centuries. Wow...she must have been worried about you."

"Hardly. I'm just another bloody reminder of the man she married." Ignaceous twisted his face in disdain. "Jareth's not the only one who loathes him."

"Why do you both hate him?" Sarah asked, unable to hide her curiosity.

Ignaceous seemed to stare into nothing for a moment before slowly glancing back at her. He smiled ruefully at her. "That's just for me to know, princess."

He pushed away from the table, flinging the food from his plate behind him for the goblins. They instantly went wild and attacked the food without a second thought. Ignaceous apparated from the room without another word, leaving Sarah alone to contemplate their conversation. Sarah watched him leave, feeling ashamed for asking so many questions that were obviously none of her business. After finishing up her meal, she stood up to go wash her plates. Pondscum immediately appeared beside her with his arms outstretched for the dirty dishes.

"Give them to me, Miss, I'll take care of them."

Sarah blinked. "Oh, no. It's alright." She shrugged. "I can do it myself. Just show me where the kitchen is."

Pondscum once again took on that look of worry. "M-miss, I don't think the Master would be very pleased with that."

"I don't really care what Jareth thinks." Sarah scoffed as she moved around toward a pair of doors on the opposite side of the dining table. "Don't worry, it's not like I'm doing this to purposely anger him. It's more for my sake; I feel like I need a sense of normalcy right now." She opened the door and took a peek inside where sure enough it led to the kitchen. Inside were a bunch of goblins bustling about washing dishes,lugging in new carts of food and sweeping up. Sarah glanced behind her at Pondscum who was lingering behind her in concern. "Don't worry, if Jareth gives you any trouble, I'll say I insisted."

She held the door open so that Pondscum could follow her in. As soon as she entered, all the goblins stopped what they were doing to look at her. Sarah felt a knot twist nervously in her gut, trying her best to smile at them as she made her way toward a large basin. She picked up a jug full of warm water and filled the basin with it. She frowned when she saw that there was no soap nearby. Sarah glanced over her shoulder to inquire about it, her eyes widening when she saw everyone was still staring at her. They all simultaneously ducked their heads, and went back to their tasks.

Sarah frowned. "Hey, do you know where the soap is, Pondscum?"

"Soap?" Pondscum cocked his head to the side. "The water is already magicked to have some soap in the water."

"Oh, I see." Sarah scrubbed the dishes with a clean rag. "Jareth sure put thought into everything."

"It's always been that way, Miss. Ever since the castle was first built many centuries ago." Pondscum climbed onto a cart of food, and watched her work on the dishes. "May I assist ye in any way?"

"It's alright, I've got this covered." Sarah furrowed her eyebrows as she scrubbed at a plate. "Hey, Pondscum, what can you tell me about the relationship between Jareth and Ignaceous."

Pondscum raised a bushy eyebrow. "Ah, well, I don't know the details too well myself. I just started working here a hundred years ago so I don't know much myself. I just know that Ignaceous did something to anger His Majesty and was banished from the Underground. I heard that he had to live under a human glamour for many centuries before Jareth would even consider letting him come back." He grabbed a pitcher of orange juice and poured himself a cup. He took huge gulps of it, his large brown eyes watching Sarah over the rim of his cup. "Some say that they're related, others say they were rivals in their younger years."

"That's not right," a female goblin said, striding up to them. She was taller than Pondscum with auburn skin and rust-colored hair that curled into her pug-like face. Her fingers were long and gnarled with black nails."They were once lovers."

Pondscum gave her an incredulous look. "Wherever did you get that idea, Rouge?"

Rouge shrugged. "That's what I heard."

"That doesn't sound quite right." Sarah laughed lightly, shaking her head as she did so. "I don't think Jareth would ever...but I have to wonder about Ignaceous." She thought back to that night when he had dressed her up for dinner with Jareth. At first, it seemed like he had been joking about him not liking women but had suddenly gotten very serious- that could only mean he liked men, right? The guy was a total mystery in some cases.

Pondscum sighed in exasperation. "The Master doesn't get involved with men, Rouge." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I've only ever seen him court several young women before. I can't vouch for Master Ignaceous though with my little of knowing him and whatnot."

"Several women?" Sarah choked. "What, like consorts?"

Rouge jumped in between Pondscum and Sarah before he could answer. She smiled at her, teeth gleaming as she stared at Sarah's skin. Her hand reached out, hovering over her arm a moment before allowing her hand to touch her skin. She let out a sound filled with awe as she rubbed her thumb against Sarah's wrist. At the sound of Pondscum loudly clearing his throat, she removed her hand quickly and grinned at Sarah, unabashed by her strange behavior.

"Master is quite...what's that mundane expression?" She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Umm...Master is quite "smooth" with the ladies. Whether he wished it or not, many young women were always flocking to him like sheep. Does he have anyone right now, Pondscum?"

"Not that I've seen."

For some reason, Sarah wasn't at all surprised to be hearing about Jareth's involvement with women. Sure, he made it his life's trade to kidnap babies but from knowing his old ways, it wasn't shocking to see women were after him. She faintly remembered that when he kept eluding her during the masquerade, he had been surrounded by at least three women who were all over him. He hadn't shown the slightest bit of interest in them as he kept his gaze focused on Sarah. She blushed at the thought. It always embarrassed her whenever her mind traveled back to the time when he had so easily seduced her inside her dream. He may have women throwing themselves at him but Sarah would not be apart of it.

She was proud to say that she wouldn't fall easily to any type of temptation. She was strong-willed after all, or so she liked to think. After all, when it came to relationships, Sarah would never let her past boyfriends become dominant. The moment she sensed it, she sent them packing. She wanted to love and be loved; not controlled. To be loved and to be possessed were two different things. Apparently Jareth couldn't tell the difference since he seemed to be with a different woman all the time. He'd had the gall to offer her "everything" three years ago in exchange for her to fear, love and obey him. A love like that cannot exist. Sarah would never be fooled by Jareth's trickery again.

Sarah shook her head to clear her mind. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to know anything else about Jareth's personal life. For some reason, she preferred to simply think of him as Goblin King that went around kidnapping babies instead of some Casanova. Sarah shivered at the thought. She had been hoping for an answer as to what Jareth and Ignaceous' relationship was but had gotten more than she bargained. Far more. She finished drying the dishes, and set them down on the rack by the sink. She smiled at Pondscum, Rouge and the rest of the goblins as she walked out. As soon as she shut the door behind her, she heard their loud voices gossiping about her. About what, she couldn't guess, she had only managed to catch her name.

She hadn't taken more than a few steps from the door when suddenly Pondscum came out. He stared at her imploringly, twiddling with his thumbs anxiously.

"Is there somewhere I may escort you to, Miss? Anything at all you might need?"

"I'm fine but thanks for the offer." Sarah walked away but glanced briefly over her shoulder at the deflated Pondscum. "By the way, I'm going to be performing for Jareth soon. It's a play. You and your goblin friends should join. If you feel interested, just let Hoggle or Sir Didymus know and I'll be sure to get back to you."

At the invitaton, Pondscum's eyes lit up. "A play? Oh, how I do adore plays."

Sarah smiled at him endearingly. "Wonderful. Then I hope you'll join us soon."

Sarah shut the door behind her and began walking aimlessly through the halls. What was she to do now? She could always go back to her room and watch some movies. Thankfully when Jareth had replicated her room, he hadn't neglected to include awesome technology like her t.v., DVDs and DVD player. It seemed like a good idea to just kick back and watch a movie while she waited for Hoggle and Sir Didymus to come visit and go over plans about the play with her, but right now Sarah was itching to get her hands on a new book. The only book she had had time to read in between magic lessons with Ignaceous and writing a screenplay, had been the fairy tale book she had borrowed.

* * *

Sarah opened the doors to the library and pushed them open gently. Her mouth opened in wonder as she stared at the shelves of books towering all the way up to the domed ceiling that was covered in a day and night sky fresco with many cherubs and angels floating among the clouds and stars. It never seemed to amaze her at how grand it was. The door creaked as she closed it behind her, making Sarah wince. Even though this library was always empty, her old ways from libraries were always with her. It was like a silent rule that libraries were to be as quiet as a church. Sarah's eyes swiftly roved over the pale green walls decorated with a tiny blue bell flower pattern. All along the walls were facets of emeralds that sparkled under the sunlight coming from the windows on all sides. There were red-polished shelves, and a dark green carpet that covered every inch of the library.

As she walked further into the room, she noticed a table in the center that she hadn't seen during her last visit. It was a round, glass table with an oriental vase that held three blue roses. A silver tray sat atop, accompanied by tea in fine china as well as a small plate of biscuits. The sweet scent of apple-cinnamon tea wafted up to Sarah's nose, drawing her ever closer to the table. She reached for a cup of tea without thinking, before pulling back sharply. She frowned. She shouldn't be taking things that don't belong to her.

Sarah turned away from the table of sweets and walked over toward the shelf where she had previously found the fairy tale book. Her fingertips roved over the spines of each book. A smile made it's way across her face when she found a familiar book. She couldn't help the girlish squeal that bubbled up her throat. It was _The Secret Garden. _It had been one of her favorite books ever since she was a little girl. Sarah grinned when she saw another favorite on a nearby shelf, _A Little Princess_. Every night, her mother would read them to her and she would fall asleep to the sound of her voice. Her heart gave a painful squeeze at the thought of her mother.

It had been a while since she had even spoken to her mother, after all. It was just the musical card she had received on her eighteenth birthday that she had last heard from her. It seemed like ages ago and every time she thought of her mother and Jeremy, her heart swelled with sorrow, bitterness and hatred. No...perhaps not hatred but something very close. More like resentment and regret. She was wondering if this was how her father had felt the night her mother and Jeremy had taken off. It was a day Sarah would never- more like _could __never_- forget. After all, it had been her eighth birthday the day her mother had walked out on her and Robert.

"You seem quite deep in thought."

Sarah jumped at the sound of the familiar voice. She turned around, striding toward a couch that had its back facing her. She looked over it cushiony wall only to find Jareth sprawled across it with his arms behind his head. He was dressed in a form-fitting black outfit that covered him from neck to toe. Slanted sunlight glinted off the gold and silver of the ever present horned emblem that hung around his elegant neck. He regarded her with cool as he stared back at her.

"S-stop doing that!"

"Doing what?"

"You know perfectly well what," Sarah huffed. "What're you doing here, anyway?"

"No one ever comes in here so it's a good place to take a nap." Jareth noticed the book in her hands, and Sarah tried to hide it behind her back like a little girl who had just been caught stealing from the cookie jar. "I see your love of reading is still there. No need to hide it, read all you like. I said it before, didn't I? You are to only entertain m. I never said you were my prisoner. I gave you permission to sleep in a comfortable room, eat good food, explore the castle with the exception of some rooms and even let you speak to your bothersome friends." Jareth smirked. "So now, tell me, does that seem like a prisoner to you?"

At this, Sarah couldn't find anything to respond with. She looked away from him and began flipping through the dusty book she had just picked up if only to distract herself from Jareth. The onslaught of dust attacked her nose, and she let out a loud sneeze that nearly sent her sailing back.

"Sheesh, just how long have these books been sitting here? Do you even read any of these?"

"No time, I'm afraid. Being king means lots of responsibility so I can't say I've even read half of the books in this library."

Sarah's eyes softened as she ran her hands along the dusty spines of the books. "There's something really sad about an unread book."

"Take as many as you like as long as it doesn't get in the way of your priorities," Jareth said. He was on his feet in one swift movement. He held her chin in a strong grip. "And by your priorities, I mean_ mine_. I wouldn't want you to forget."

Sarah gave him a withering look. "Trust me, I'd _never_ forget."

"Good." Jareth smiled, letting go of her chin. He took on a sunny disposition, the sudden change almost enough to give Sarah whiplash. "Now how are your lessons with Ignaceous coming along?"

"Uhh...uneventful," Sarah murmured, staring down at her feet. She suddenly felt like a very small child under his microscopic-like gaze. "I mean I suppose I've improved somewhat but I'm still not very good at transfiguration. I was practicing how to change an orange into a peach but no such luck. I'm better at apparating though."

"You can't even change a fruit into another fruit?" Jareth scowled. "What has Ignaceous been teaching you?"

"He tells me to do breathing exercises and tells me I should do it all while doing a head stand against the wall."

Jareth stared blankly at her. "Oh, really?"

Sarah was surprised when she was suddenly backed up against a bookshelf. Jareth gave her an intense look, placing one hand over her head as he leaned over her.

"Tell Ignaceous that if he doesn't start teaching you the right way, he's going to be in a world of pain." Jareth glared at Sarah. "And you, don't fall for such obvious tricks anymore."

Sarah flushed and looked away, feeling stupid for falling for something so stupid. "R-right."

Jareth suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist. "I have to be getting back to work soon so come with me. There's something I would very much like to propose to you."

Before Sarah could protest, he was already transporting them to another room. She clutched the books she had chosen tightly to her chest, and next thing she knew, she was in an office of some sort. The gray walls were lined with shelves of crystal ornaments and water-colored paintings of people and creatures Sarah had once thought were mythical. The paintings almost seemed to move out of the corner of Sarah's eye. The only furnishings in the room were a cushioned chair and a large desk with a myriad of papers, inkwells, white feathers and a pile of books scattered on top of it. Above his desk on the wall, a statue of a white owl with it's wings spread out sat on a shelf. Jareth abruptly let go of Sarah's wrist as he went to go stand beside his desk.

"Are you any closer to solving my riddle, Sarah?" Jareth asked, gazing at her through predatory eyes.

"Not just yet. I'm being kept far too busy for that."

"Not even a guess as to what it may be?" Jareth leaned against his desk as he regarded her. "You know if you were to make the right guess, I would be willing to let you waltz right out of here and you'll never hear so much as a hoot from me ever again."

Sarah's eyes widened, hope shining through before it fell flatly at a certain thought. "Liar."

"You accuse me of lying, darling? Me? When the biggest liar around here is yourself. Make the right guess on the first try and on my vow as the Goblin King, I will give you back your freedom."

Sarah was about to protest but she saw the solemn, serious look in his mismatched eyes and it died in her throat. He was being for real. If she made the right guess, he would really let her leave. Sarah racked her brain for the right answer, she knew it, deep down she knew the answer but nothing came to her at the moment. _I show your most desperate desires, passions of most wild fires. I'm somewhere dark and decrepit where especially the damned dead have slept._

"The object..." Sarah started slowly, feeling herself sweat bullets. Her stomach twisted nervously as the following words flooded out of her moouth. "The- the object is a mirror!"

Jareth rose an eyebrow at this. "What makes you say that?"

"Mirrors represent beauty and vanity and holds and withholds the dreams people have," Sarah replied, feeling as if she was reciting a poem for her English teacher.

"Very good guess but I'm afraid that's incorrect." Jareth smiled. "You're a clever girl, Sarah, I can tell this is going to be an interesting challenge. I won't tell you what the first object is but I will tell you that it's something quite...familiar to you."

"Familiar?" Sarah thought this over, constantly replaying the riddle in her head. "Is it anything from my room?"

"I _believe_ I said you could only guess one time and that was it." Jareth now stood in front of her, making Sarah shrink back. She jerked her chin out in defiance, hoping he couldn't see how nervous he was making her."Never fear, precious, you still have twelve weeks left to solve all three of my riddles. I also very much look forward to your performance soon."

"Not too soon, I still need to finish practicing."

"I would also like you to recite the rules I gave you from before." At Sarah's surprised expression, he continued with a mocking look, "Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten them in a such a short amount of time."

"I haven't forgotten," Sarah muttered. "You told me that I wasn't allowed to receive outside help on this challenge and that I may only go as far as having three offenses."

"There's one final thing I would like to add to that. You are not permitted to enter the Goblin City or into the Labyrinth itself. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Sarah's eyes widened. "No...no. I can't promise that. I have to find Ludo."

"Going into the Labyrinth on your own will not improve your current situation." Jareth narrowed his eyes at her, stepping closer. "Only certain death will await you should you decide to venture into it. I won't have you dying on me so quickly before the game has even finished."

"Game?" Sarah was flabbergasted. "That's what you think this is? A game?"

"But of course," Jareth drawled, taking a long strand of her hair in between his gloved fingers. "It's always been a game since the very start. Very much like a dance, wouldn't you agree?"

Sarah furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"When confusion leads a dance, passion is what drives it to a finish." He smirked. "That's exactly what you will need to put an end to this game. Though, I admire your bravery to some degree, you, my girl, are a scheming wench who will not and shall not leave my sight."

"You don't trust me?" Sarah asked, faking hurt.

"I trust you about as much as I trust your equally lying and scheming friends who have betrayed me once in favor helping a wretched girl like you."

"I never lied _or_ cheated," Sarah said dryly. "But I admit that without my friends there to help me, I don't think I would've made it through your Labyrinth. You told me I couldn't have any help so I'll respect that." She leaned toward him without thinking, bringing her face closer to his. "I won't be intimidated by you. I'm not a child anymore, I no longer have reason to fear you."

Jareth grinned almost in triumph. "So you _did _once fear me in the same way a child fears the monsters under his bed?" He leaned closer to her, his wispy hair caressing her jawline. He lowered his voice to a minimal whisper, letting his warm breath hover over her ear. "Though, you needn't fear being eaten, precious. The only thing you should be afraid of is sharing the monster's _form_."

Sarah turned away from him, finding it hard to breathe with someone far too close in her personal bubble for comfort. She shoved past him and left the office, making sure to slam the door behind her. Her eyes widened when she saw Ignaceous leaning against the wall beside the door, non-chalantly biting into a pear. He cracked one eye open to peer at her as he licked the juice from his lips.

"Meeting with the Goblin King didn't go so well, I take?"

Sarah scoffed as she walked off down the hallway, only faintly aware of Ignaceous following her. "Hardly. He's the most irritating, arrogant, selfish, cruel, insert-negative-word man I've ever met!"

"Which would make me what?" Ignaceous smiled as he matched her stride.

"I would say the second most irritating but I haven't spent enough time with you to confirm that."

Ignaceous took another bite of his pear. "Let's change that."

"No, thanks. I don't plan on spending any more of my time with you than necessary," Sarah said as she turned the corner. "Don't think I've forgotten about Ambrosious."

Ignaceous let out a loud sigh through clenched teeth that sounded similar to that of a gust of wind. "It's a _dog. _A filthy, stupid _dog."_

"Wrong, he's my friend who helped me in my near hopeless journey to the center of the Labyrinth," Sarah protested. "He's very dear to me but I'm sure someone like you wouldn't understand."

"Why is it that women tend to hold grudges for a long time?"

"Maybe just the ones _you_ know."

Ignaceous pinched the bridge of his nose and stared down at her through his lashes. "The challenge still stands. Make me fall to my knees." He smirked. "That's something I'd really like to see."

"I'll do that and more," Sarah promised, getting right in his face before storming off.

Ignaceous grabbed her elbow and tried to pull her back toward him, saying they should resume their magic lessons. Sarah yanked out of his grip and rubbed her thumb against her ring, trying hard to concentrate on picturing her room. The next thing she knew, the hallway before her had melted away and had blasted her into a new one. Sarah blinked, steadying herself against a nearby wall. It wasn't her room but at least she had finally gotten away from that creep.

* * *

It had taken Sarah a few more tries before she had finally managed to apparate into her room. Her face was flushed and her nostrils were flaring violently as she stomped around her room. She tossed her books onto her bed before parking herself in front of her mirror, skimming her enraged reflection only to have her focus drawn to the photo of Linda and Jeremy tucked into the frame of the mirror. She picked it up and stared at it, remembering how painful it had been the night she had found out her mom was leaving her. Her hands moved of their own accord to tear the picture in two but she stopped abruptly when she felt tears prickling in her eyes. Sarah let the picture flutter back onto her bureau with a choking gasp.

She pressed her hands tightly to her eyes to prevent the dam from overflowing. Small, shaky breaths escaped her lips as she struggled to keep her composure. After a few moments, she dropped her hands helplessly back into her lap. Her eyes bore holes into the tiny picture sitting in front of her mockingly. It was all Jareth's fault. He incited memories she preferred to have remained buried. It hadn't bothered her so much in beginning but now whenever she was around him, the more vivid and stronger the memories became. Because of Jareth she was constantly reminded of one man...Jeremy.

_'Happy Birthday, princess!' Robert crowed as he picked up Sarah and swung her around. _

_Sarah laughed as she clung onto her dad, trying hard to keep her pink plastic tiara- the one she had begged her mother to buy her - from falling off her head. She wrinkled her nose when her father kissed her cheek and felt his stubbly chin hairs prickle her skin. _

_'No, daddy.' She pouted. 'No kisses for you until you shave.'_

_Robert gave her a look as if offended. 'No kisses? Hmm...well, I simply can't stand for it.' He rubbed his five o'clock shadow against her cheek making Sarah squeal and try to squirm away. _

_'Daddy, stop!' she giggled._

_They both went still when they heard a flashing sound behind them. It was Linda holding a camera, smiling brilliantly from behind the lens. _

_Linda walked over toward them to show them the picture. "That was a great shot." She took Sarah from Robert's arms and gave up when she realized she couldn't hold Sarah up. "Oof! You've become such a big girl. I can't even carry you anymore. Sorry we couldn't take you and your friends to the circus but to make up for it you can have as much cake and icecream as you want.'_

_'It's OK, there's plenty of stuff to do at home.' Sarah closed the distance between her and her mom as she embraced her waist, burrowing her face into her stomach. She always loved the way her mother smelled of flowers and absolute goodness. '...As much cake and icecream as I want, right?"_

_Linda laughed as she smoothed Sarah's hair down. "Yes, eat all you like today.'_

_'When can I blow out the candles?'_

_'Right now if you'd like." Linda turned to Robert. 'Go get the candles and the lighter, dear.'_

_'I'm on it.'_

_Sarah grinned as she ran from her mother's arms toward the dining room. She could hear her mom pausing the movie she and her friends had been watching and telling them that it was cake time. They all but sprinted into the kitchen, and gathered around Sarah as they waited for Robert to come in with the candles and lighter. Her best friend Melanie was on her right side, playing with her hair as always while the terrible twins Jake and Blake were behind Sarah, making bunny ears at them. Melanie turned around and punched Blake in the shoulder who burst into a fit of giggles. Jake snatched Sarah's crown from her head and placed it upon his own. Sarah laughed as she snatched it from him and settled it back on her head._

_'Come on, Sarah, we all want a shot to be princess,' Jake teased and everyone laughed._

_Melanie rolled her eyes. "Oh, be quiet. By the way, what did you get her, Doofus?'_

_'It's a surprise.'_

_'Not another _masterpiece _of yours please." Sarah wrinkled her nose in distaste._

_Jake's face fell. "But you said you liked it."_

_"It was an imprint of your butt!"_

_'Told you it was a stupid idea,' Blake scoffed, leaning his elbow against Sarah's shoulder and trying- and failing miserably- at looking more mature than his years. _

_Jake raised an eyebrow. "It was _your_ idea. You said you wanted to get her matching imprints.'_

_'So? I got her something even better, right Sarah?' _

_Sarah gave him a funny look. "Uhh yeah, I really liked the I'm With Stupid t-shirt you got me."_

_'You guys are so dumb.' Melanie smacked Blake's hand away so that she could put her arm around Sarah. "You're gonna like my present...or more like you_ will _like it. It's non-refundable." She giggled._

_'I'll like anything you give me, you know that.'_

_That was when Robert came in holding a pack of multi-colored candles. He stuck them into the round chocolate cake in a full circle before lighting each candle. Linda was back with her camera in hand, urging the kids to come closer so they could all show up in the picture. The photo forever stayed in Sarah's mind of Melanie hugging her side while Jake and Blake made cross-eyes, and the rest of the children gave their best award-winning smiles with some showing missing gaps in their teeth. Melanie let go of Sarah as she blew out the candles and everyone started clapping simultaneously. _

_'What did you wish for?' Melanie asked. _

_Sarah grinned. 'Not telling. I really want this one to come true.'_

_'Aww.' Her friend pouted at this._

_Linda began cutting pieces of cake for each child and added icecream on the side. As soon as Sarah and Melanie had each gotten their own plates, they were already racing back to watch their movie. The rest of the evening was spent playing board games, charades and hide and seek, though her mother warned them about hiding in the bathrooms and in the attic. Once the day was over and Sarah's friends left, she was eager to start opening her presents. She had gotten a lot of pretty dresses, dolls as well as a bookend of a dwarf from Jake and some sort of maze game from Blake. Her favorite gift had to be Melanie's; it was a red-leather bound book titled _Labyrinth_. She had read the book a year ago at the city library but the next time she had wanted to check it out, it was gone and though she begged her mom and dad to buy it, the book was very rare to find and expensive. __She hugged the book to her chest before grabbing her mother's hand, practically dragging her upstairs so that she could read it to her. _

_That night had started out so peaceful but the sound of lightning tore Sarah away from her dreams of castles and unicorns. She jolted upright in bed,__ feeling a horrible tremor run through her small body. She threw the covers off of her and started walking mechanically toward her window, watching the dim blue glow of rain drip down the window pane. Her tiny hands pressed against the glass as she looked down. She had to crane her neck to see better, and sharply pulled away when she saw a man in a trench coat entering her house. _

_Who was he? What did he want? Why would either of her parents let in a strange man? Why couldn't she shake this awful feeling? Sarah slid down against the wall, and began crawling along the floor to reach Lancelot who had fallen out of bed. She suddenly felt so cold even while she pressed Lancelot to her chest, trying to make out any voices. Sure enough a few minutes later, she heard her mother and the stranger's voice downstairs. Her eyes widened. She could hear her father now too. They were yelling now with a ferocity that Sarah had never heard from her parents. They had never so much as raised their voices to one another and now they were yelling._

_Sarah opened her door and began running down the hall, the carpet softening the thudding of her footsteps. After careening around the corner, she was suddenly standing at the top of the stairs, clutching Lancelot to her chest as if it were her only anchor. The adults still hadn't noticed Sarah, far too engaged in their own argument. Sarah bit her lip as she crept along the staircase until she settled for a place half-way down the stairs. She clutched the railing as she peered down at the adults below her. She caught a glimpse of a blonde-haired man with his arm around her mother. _

_Sarah blinked. She had seen this man before, hadn't she? But where? Carrying Lancelot with both arms, she tried to listen into their conversation. _

_'How could you do this to me, Linda?' Robert asked, his voice contorted with anger and pain. 'We have a child!'_

_Linda bit her lip. "I'm sorry...It's not like I planned for any of this to happen. It just did. I just had to tell you, I didn't want to lie...I didn't want to pretend anymore." She closed her eyes when she felt a tear escape, feeling her only sap of strength drain from her as Jeremy slid his arm from off her shoulders only to tenderly squeeze her hand. "We'll file for a divorce as soon as possible and I won't ask for any share of the money."_

_Robert scowled. 'You're a real piece of work, ya know that? I married you thinking we could spend the rest of our lives together but after eight years of being married to you, I just realized...I don't know you at all." His voice cracked. "You're nothing but a lying, cheating whore."_

_Sarah watched with wide eyes as Jeremy stepped in between them, his long dark trench coat billowing out behind him ominously. He had delicate features for a man but the way he was staring at her father now was anything but delicate. He had honey wheat-colored hair that was cut ruthlessly short and combed back with a heavy amount of gel. It exposed a wide forehead, some bangs hanging slightly over it in a way that seemed strangely refined._

_"You will not speak to her that way. I won't allow it." His brown eyes narrowed. "If she was really content with her life with you then it wouldn't have been so easy for me to have persuaded her. Does it anger you so that only I am able to give her what she dreams?" He took note of the clenching of Robert's jaw. "I don't normally regard married women...actually, I never do. But Linda is my match in every way and letting some piece of paper come between us is ludicrous." He glanced briefly over his shoulder at the wide-eyed woman, before turning back to Robert who looked like he was ready to combust. "I love her. She has the right to choose who she wants to be with."_

_At that moment, Sarah felt her sweaty hands slip, effectively hitting her forehead against the railing. She let out a small cry as she enveloped her head in her hands. She looked up reluctantly through glassy eyes, and saw that the adults had stopped talking and were all staring up at her in shock. All except for Jeremy who was grinning widely. Almost as if he had been expecting her all along. He was the first one to make a move. In less than ten seconds, he had taken long strides up the stairs to reach Sarah._

_"Why, hello there. Looks like there's a spy in our midst. You must be Sarah. Linda speaks of nothing else. We met once before at a play your mother and I were performing in."_

_Sarah gasped when Jeremy suddenly swung her up into his arms, and carried her down the stairs the way one would with a baby. She wrapped her arms around his neck for fear of falling, but she had a feeling that that was something he would never allow. Jeremy reclaimed his place beside Linda who was still gawking at Sarah in a mixture of surprise and guilt. Sarah squirmed in Jeremy's arms but he wouldn't relent as he turned to face Linda. _

_"Linda, she's beautiful," he murmured. He glanced down at Sarah who was fighting back tears. "You look just like your mother, my dear. Since you do, I don't think it will be hard to love you at all."_

_Robert made a move to swipe Sarah from his arms but Jeremy stepped back, only briefly letting go of Sarah to shake his finger slowly at him and _'tsk'_._

_"If you think you're taking the kid, Linda, you've got another thing coming," Robert snarled. _

_Jeremy tilted his head at Linda. "I believe it's her decision to make. What is it that you want, love? We can take her along with us if you wish. I know that only little Sarah would be able to fill the loneliness that I could never hope to fill."_

_Jeremy finally set Sarah down on her feet in front of her mother. Linda lifted her arms out for her, wincing when she saw her daughter cringe at her touch. Still, she needed to feel her warmth as she embraced her. She tucked her head on the crown of her head and jostled her gently from side to side, humming an old lullaby. _

_"I think it would be best to leave her with you, Robert," she whispered. "I want her to get an education and to grow up in a healthy environment...not travel from place to place like me."_

_"Wait!" Sarah practically shouted, making all the adults turn to her, surprised by her outburst. "You're all talking like I'm not even here."_

_She wriggled out of her mother's arms until Linda finally let her go. Linda knelt down to Sarah's level, giving her a small smile. _

_"I'm sorry, Sarah. What is that you want?"_

_'I want to know why you're leaving me.'_

_Linda looked at Sarah through tear-filled eyes, covering her mouth to choke back a sob. "I'm sorry, honey. A million times in advance, I'm so sorry because I'm afraid that I'm only going to end up letting you down time after time." She hugged Sarah fiercely, cradling her head against her shoulder. "But I'll still write you letters, call you and visit you whenever I can so you know I'm always with you. I love you and never forget that."_

_With that, Linda shakily reached for her suitcases that Jeremy gently pried from her grasp. He gave her a meaningful look. "I'll get these. Go wait for me in the car." With one final broken look at Sarah, Linda turned her back on her husband and daughter and began walking toward Jeremy's car._

_"No, mommy! No!" Sarah cried, attempting to run past Jeremy but his tall frame obstructed the entire threshold. _

_Jeremy smiled a small smile. "You must hate me and that's fine. I don't blame you." He reached into one of the suitcases and Sarah watched through tear-filled eyes as he pulled out a golden carousel with a girl in a pink poofy dress. He turned a knob at the bottom and sweet music filled the air that was so full of tension. Sarah momentarily stopped crying as she was suddenly fixated upon the melody and the revolving princess. "Pretty, isn't it? This is from your mother and I. Happy birthday, sweetheart." He leaned down and brushed a quick kiss to Sarah's forehead." He glanced over his shoulders as he took both suitcases in his hands. "Don't fret, don't cry, don't worry your pretty little head. Why not give acting a try? That way you and your mother can share the stage one day.'_

_Sarah stood frozen in the doorway, feeling his words still ringing in her head. When she heard the car door shut and the engine start, she broke into a run, feeling the rain instantly drench her and make her nightgown cling to her. Her cries of loss pierced through the night like a knife, and just as she had attempted to run down the street to catch the car, she suddenly felt Robert's arms around her, preventing her from making another move. _

_"DON'T LEAVE ME!"_

Sarah's eyes clouded at the memory, and set the picture face-down on her bureau. She had remembered hating Jeremy for the longest time, but he had also given her a reason to keep on moving. From that day on, she had made up her mind that she would become an actress so that she could be together again with her mom. She hoped that if she got scouted one day as an actress, she'd be closer to being with her mother. So far no such luck and now that she was under Jareth's watch, she wasn't getting any closer. Sarah sighed as she stared at her reflection. It had only been a week since she had arrived here but it felt like much longer. She supposed it must have been because of the different flow of time in the Underground.

Sarah stood up and walked over toward the glass balcony doors. She pulled them apart as she stepped out into the fresh spring air. She leaned against the railing and stared up at the window where Jareth had been singing that song that haunted Sarah even in her dreams. The Goblin King she had known before had not been capable of showing such emotions. Everytime she saw him, she just couldn't believe that he was the same soulful man she had witnessed a week ago. Sometimes when she was alone in her room and she was feeling down and thinking of Toby, she tried to sing his song.

When she sang it, she thought that there was a piece of him that she finally understood. It helped her concentrate on figuring out the puzzle somewhat. If Jareth was the one giving the riddle then it obviously meant that whatever the object was, it also had to be strongly related to Jareth himself. She kept playing and replaying the riddle in her head over and over but she just couldn't put two and two together. She knew the answer...she did. It was staring her in the face, waving flags around and doing cartwheels in front of her but she just couldn't understand.

"Sarah, you in there?"

Sarah bristled at the sound of Ignaceous' voice. She heard him knock a few times but never bothered replying.

"Come on, I know you're in there. Open the door, we should continue on with the lessons."

She couldn't believe the nerve of him expecting her to continue on with the lessons as if nothing had happened. Just as Sarah decided to head back into the room, she suddenly stumbled upon a loose stone and fell flat on her face. Sarah winced as she massaged the slight bump starting to emerge from her temple. She glanced behind her to glare at the loose stone...and something sticking out of it. Sarah frowned as she crouched in front of it to yank it out. It was a brown leather-bound journal with an emblem of a leaf and two rings intertwined on the front. She suddenly felt really bad. This was someone's private journal. They might come back for it sometime. She was interrupted from her train of thought when the sound of knocking was heard once again.

"Sarah! Come out, your group of friends are here to rehearse with you."

"J-just a minute!"

Sara shoved the journal back beneath the stone, and ran toward the door only to find an irritated Ignaceous who jerked a thumb behind him. Sarah squealed with joy when she saw Hoggle, Didymus and Ambrosious standing behind him. She quickly ushered them into her room, promptly shutting the door on Ignaceous' face before he could so much as a utter a word. Ambrosious whimpered fearfully and ducked under Sarah's bed. Sarah cast a final dirty look behind her before she and her friends gathered on her bed.

"Tell us about this play you wanted us to do," Didymus said.

Hoggle chose to sit at the foot of her bed where a chest lay while Sir Didymus had squeezed onto the shelf beside Lancelot.

Sarah smiled, almost feeling bashful. "Well, I was sort of hoping we could do a play on Snow White."

Hoggle groaned, shaking his head. "Oh, I was hoping you would change your mind about that."

"Oh, hush," Didymus shushed him, turning back to Sarah with a smile. "I think that's a magnificent idea, Sarah. The plot is simple enough, and we've already managed to recruit eight goblins working at this castle. I wrote down all of their names, they simply can't wait to get started."

"That's great." Sarah grinned. "Things are moving along so fast. Let's put everyone's names in a hat that way everyone has a fair shot at a part."

They wrote down everyones' names and cut them out into thin strips of paper. They dropped them into Didymus' hat, and Sarah sifted through them before pulling out a name.

"Okay whoever's name I pull out will be Snow White." Sarah rifled through them and pulled out a paper. She tossed her head back and laughed, unable to help herself. "Hoggle looks like you're our next Snow White."

Hoggle hopped down from the chest. "Hoggle absolutely ain't! I won't go up on stage and make a fool of ma self!"

Sarah laughed behind her hand. "Come on, Hoggle. It'll be fun, I promise. This will definitely make things a lot more interesting."

"She's right." Didymus chuckled. "No need to be a spoil sport. We must help Sarah out in any way that we can. Don't you think we owe this to her after leaving her alone for a month? Can't you image how lonely our fair maiden must have been?"

Hoggle suddenly appeared guilty as he dug the toe of his shoe against the carpet. "'T-twas only a month..."

"Please, Hoggle," Sarah pleaded, batting her eyelashes innocently. "For me?"

At that precise moment, Hoggle made the fatal mistake of glancing up. His eyes made contact with Sarah's hopeful-looking green orbs. He turned his head away sharply, shaking his head in his hands.

"Oh, alright! Ya know I'm in."

Sarah smiled. "Thanks, Hoggle." She dipped her hand into the hat and came out with another name. "Okay, whoever's name comes out next will play the prince." She opened it and her mouth went into a silent _'o'_. "Wow, I guess it's me. Funny, I think Sir Didymus would have made a better prince."

Sir Didymus blushed. "Oh, Sarah, you're too kind."

"But it's true," Sarah insisted. "I think we should switch places."

"Uh uh!" Hoggle protested, crossing his arms peevishly over his chest. "I don' git ta change roles so neither do ya."

"He has a point, My Lady. It wouldn't be fair to the rest of the goblins who wish to be apart of this production." A sudden idea sparked in Didymus' eyes. "That reminds me. What made you decide to do Snow White, Sarah?" Didymus asked, his curiosity evident.

"Well, it's always been one of my favorite fairy tales and there's so many parts so there's enough to go around." Sarah showed them the book she had borrowed from the library. "After reading the real version for myself, I decided that we should all give it a try. It's amazing how different the story is compared to the one I'm so used to hearing."

Hoggle's bushy eyebrows arched. "Really? How?"

"Well, the real version is a lot darker and very strange." Sarah gave them a sly look. "I don't want to reveal too much but..."

Sarah began comparing and contrasting the differences and similarities between the real version of Snow White and the version everyone is used to. Her friends looked on with a mixture of interest and horror as she finished explaining things to them.

* * *

They had had lunch in Sarah's room- courtesy of Didymus who had been thoughtful enough to bring a picnic basket full of food. A while after her friends had left her room to retire for the day, Sarah found her mind wandering back to that journal she had found earlier. She had found Ignaceous waiting outside her room as she told her friends goodbye. Her jaw clenched in irritation and she told him to tell Jareth she wouldn't be joining him for dinner even though she knew that Jareth hadn't been showing up for dinner most of the week. She closed the door on his face before she could even get a reply out of him. Sarah knew that the Fae could easily apparate himself into the room with or without her permission. She had to admit she was glad that he wasn't forcing his way in. Ignaceous wasn't a total jerk, Sarah would give him that much.

Sarah bit her lip as she stared through the glass balcony doors where she had left the journal. She edged closer to the loose stone and knelt down in front of it. Nothing bad ever came from reading a book. She groaned as she remembered Evelyn from _The Mummy _having said the same thing and the fact that the last time she had read a book herself, her baby brother had been stolen by the Goblin King. Sarah sighed. Well, technically it wasn't a book...it was a journal. Just a little peek wouldn't hurt- _shouldn't_ hurt.

An idea suddenly occurred to Sarah and she raced back inside her room. She slammed the door of her closet open, and began rummaging through all the old junk she had in there. At the far back of her closet, she found the sleeping bag she used for camping trips and sleep overs. If only her friends could have stayed over so that they could have had a real slumber party with her. Sarah '_hmph'_ed. Jareth kept them so busy it was ridiculous. Holding the sleeping bag under one arm, Sarah marched back toward the balcony. She shut the doors behind her, unable to stop herself from glancing up toward Jareth's bedroom window. Sarah looked away sharply, berating herself for wishing to hear his song once again. She turned her attention back to removing the loose stone and pulled out the journal.

Sarah slid into the sleeping bag, allowed herself to get comfortable before opening up the journal. The front pages usually gives the name who it belonged to but to Sarah's surprise it was blank. The first couple of pages were covered in doodles she would usually expect to find in Toby's art portfolio from school. Finally she reached the first entry titled _Ballad One _and the edges of the smooth white parchment were framed by more doodles of leaves and flowers. Sarah ran her hand along the page and traced the title words with her finger. It was all written in such elegant script- a strong contrast compared to the owner's drawings.

Ballad One

_Mother has given me this journal since she knows how fond I am of writing. It's difficult being away from her despite my initial feeling of excitement at finally leaving home due to her constant nagging and harsh criticism. I have only been in court about a month but it wasn't long before I gained the attention of His Majesty. According to the council, I've become one of candidates in line to be one of the king's consorts. Though, I should be honored, I'm not sure if I want to give my body to someone just because they treat me kindly and offer me gifts. I was once a woman of noble birth who went to every Fae court gathering, after all. _

_It's not so simple to become submissive just because it will please someone else. I've had more than enough of that from my mother. __As soon as I left finishing school, she sent me straight to Fae court where she had hoped I would find a likely man to marry. The court isn't as fun as some stories led them to believe. It's hard for me to make friends and at every turn, it seemed like someone was talking about me behind my back. The court is full of scandal and intrigue and I am repulsed at having to be apart of it all._

_Ballad 2_

_The King and I have become quite close I am pleased to say. We usually spend our time taking long strolls through the garden, having readings and dining together. I swear he's the first person not to fall asleep to the sound of my voice. __How foolish I am for agreeing to be his consort. I agreed so that I could be closer to him but seeing him with his wife is...unbearable. Though, I am considered his favorite among his consorts, I would trade all the pleasure, all the gifts that he gives me, if only to have access to his heart. I keep telling him not to be so kind to me. When he demands to know why he may not, I think silence becomes me. _

Ballad 3

_It seems that the king and his wife have been arguing more lately. It's become very easy to notice since he comes to my bedroom whenever he is frustrated. I do not deny him my bed since he can almost make me believe that when our bodies our united that we're almost...together. How foolish I am. Every morning, I find him gone. Just once, I'd like to wake up in his arms. Just once._

Sarah blushed at this part, feeling her heart go out for the poor woman even though she still had no idea what it felt like to have a broken heart.

Ballad 4

_Meliorn, my king's cousin, seems to be quite taken with me, believes me to be the most exquisite beauty he's ever beheld. His words are flattering but the only reason I spoke with him that evening was because I knew that His Highness and him had never really seen eye to eye. I spared a few dances with him, making light conversation. After the evening was over, Meliorn suggested we go up to his room. Before I could even so much as slap him for his boldness, no other than His Majesty had come up from behind me. He claimed that no other but him would be allowed to bed me. I don't think I've ever seen Meliorn look so much like a dog running away with his tail between his legs. I couldn't help but be angry with His Highness. I may have been his consort but that didn't mean I would remain his forever._

_My King seemed surprised at my words and whatever I might have expected him to say next he didn't. Instead, he asked me what I would do after I leave him. His words sounded pained as he spoke and for just a moment, I wanted him to feel the same pain that I had felt. The only possible place to return to was my home. He said he would never allow me to leave- that he cared too much about me. He kissed me gently, in a way that he had never kissed me before. He kissed me as though he really loved me. I hated myself for giving in so easily but once we sank into bed together, I knew there was no going back or denying it. Tonight would mark the day of my life's turning point. I could give my heart to no other because my mind, body and soul belonged to this man._

_I had pointedly avoided His Majesty after that night. I was going to be made a fool of when I knew full well that he was married. I had confined myself to my room, eating little and mostly sleeping the day away. That was until His Highness appeared beside me in bed one night. I was going to push him off, and tell him I wasn't in the mood to roll around in the hay but before I could utter so much as one word, My King stated that he had already given his heart to me and no other. He begged me to say with him. I couldn't help the foolish grin on my face the next morning we woke up together in each other's arms._

_From that night on, something changed between us. We were no longer lord and consort but lovers. The queen had quickly noticed our new behavior. We shouldn't have made it quite so obvious what with the way we stared at each other during court or how we would both end up in dark corners of a room instead of dancing. One time she had walked in on us sharing a good night kiss, and demanded His Majesty return to their bed for the night. She asked me to bring them tea. It certainly wasn't my job to bring her tea, but I would be a fool to deny the queen anything. I felt like clawing her eyes out when I arrived at the room to find herself draped over My King. I would have given anything to wipe that smirk off her face. The following morning the Queen accused me of poisoning her in front of the whole court. _

Sarah's eyes widened at this part. This journal was like some sort of romance novel packed with passion, jealousy and intrigue. She snorted. It sounded like something she would catch Irene reading. The writing was beautiful and openly conveyed the young woman's feelings. Sarah couldn't help but continue reading through the following entries, her eyes widening when something scandalous or dramatic happened. Time seemed to be slipping by her without notice. Before she could help it, Sarah felt the effects of sleep consuming her. The journal slipped from her fingers and landed on her side just as she drifted off into a dreamland.

* * *

It was mid-day when Toby awoke in a barren wasteland devoid of life with the sun blazing down over him. He lay there a moment in a state of confusion. He had to be dreaming- this place only existed in his dreams. But it all felt real from the dirt beneath him to the warm wind blowing against his face. Toby jolted upright after a moment when he remembered he was supposed to be rescuing Sarah. The Labyrinth loomed over him in the distance as if daring him to turn back. The longer Toby stared at it, the more nervous he became, but that didn't stop him from running toward it. If things went according to Sarah's story then Hoggle should have been outside of the Labyrinth spraying fairies.

When Toby reached the outside of the Labyrinth, there was no dwarf to be found. He groaned as he tried walking around the edge of the Labyrinth in hopes of finding a door. Stepping close to the wall, he raised a fist and knocked gently against it. Nothing. Toby grit his teeth together. How was he supposed to save Sarah if he couldn't even find his way into the Labyrinth? Toby cursed loudly, surprising his own ears as threw a rock against the wall, trying to let out his frustration. The rock ricochetted of the wall and hit him smack in the forehead. He stumbled back a few steps, rubbing the bump starting to form.

He stared at the wall through glassy eyes. How was he going to get in? "Urgh! Ignaceous, you idiot!"

"What are you blaming _me_ for, kid?" a voice sounded behind him.

Toby jumped at his voice and turned around, his face a mixture of relief and annoyance. "You left me by myself and didn't even bother at least dropping me off in the Labyrinth."

"Finding the way in is just _one_ of the many difficult parts of solving the Labyrinth," Ignaceous said lazily, walking toward Toby. "You can't have everything handed on a platter to you, Toby. You're taking so much for granted."

"I'm not taking anything for granted, I just want to find the way in." Toby stared hard at him. "I'm wasting my breath talking to you when my sister could be in danger. Are you gonna tell me where the door is or not?"

Ignaceous shrugged. "It all depends on you."

It all depends on him? Again Toby was caught was the feeling of nostalgia yet couldn't quite place it. He placed his hand lightly on the hand guard of his sword, feeling the power emanating from it. He closed his eyes as he tried to remember his time in the Labyrinth but once again it was like hitting a glass wall. His memories just couldn't travel that far back. He had simply been too young for him to remember. He could feel Ignaceous' hawk-like eyes on him as his expression suddenly turned pensive. Toby thought long and hard for several moments, before he vaguely remembered a piece from Sarah's story.

"Will you tell me...if I ask the right question?"

Ignaceous smiled, showing gleaming jagged canines that made Toby shiver. "You're finally starting to think like a true champion." He nodded and gave a small bow. "Ask all you like and I will answer as best as I can."

"Umm..." Toby clenched his eyes shut in deep thought. "Will you show me _where_ the door is?"

"That's more like it." Ignaceous snapped his fingers and Toby leaped aside when doors behind suddenly swung open. His eyes widened at the large doors. Those hadn't been there before.

Just as Ignaceous turned around to leave, Toby reached out without thinking and clutched the end of his cloak. Ignaceous glanced over his shoulder with an arched brow but said nothing. Toby swallowed and let go after a second, almost feeling ashamed of himself. He had finally found a way into the Labyrinth but just when things were about to get hard, he clutched onto the nearest adult like a lifeline. He pressed the toe of his boot into the dirt, and refused to look at Ignaceous for a long minute. The guy may have been strange but he was all Toby had at the moment.

"Will I...will you come back?"

Ignaceous blinked. "Yes," he said slowly, uncertainly. "I will be popping in every now and then to check on you. It's protocol." At the look of relief on Toby's face, he added, "But don't think that I can help you should you run into trouble with the monsters. Even if I wished to help, I'm not allowed to intervene with the player."

Toby bit his lower lip, clutching his sword, his only comfort to be found for miles. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you later."

Ignaceous stared hard at him for a few seconds. "...Have you ever played any video games?"

"Yeah." Toby frowned. "But what does that have to do with-

"Oh, you would be surprised. This is sort of like a video game except if you die you don't get multiple chances." Ignaceous knew that this was all too much for a four-year to handle emotionally, but the kid had to know what he was up against. He had seen the fire in Toby's eyes before when he spoke so determinedly about saving his sister. Even though Ignaceous still had his doubts, it was quite likely that Toby would be able to handle the Labyrinth well enough once he got accustomed to it. "Your sister didn't receive outside help from the Goblin King when she went through the Labyrinth. I'm not gonna help you but if you can get any of the creatures within the Labyrinth on your side things should run more smoothly for you."

Ignaceous was about to turn away to leave once more, before he remembered something. "Oh, yes. There's one thing I had forgotten to tell you in my haste to get you here. Though you have the body of a fifteen-year old, inside you still think very much like the four-year old boy you are so sometimes you will find that your mind's and body's ages will be at war with one another." When Toby furrowed his brows in confusion, he added, "You'll see what I mean. It's best if you hurry, Toby. What's been an hour for you has been about a week for Sarah. Once you enter the Goblin City, the flow of time changes. I'm sure you already know you must solve the Labyrinth within thirteen hours."

With that he disapparated, leaving Toby standing alone in front of the gates of the Labyrinth. Toby took one step forward and froze at a howl heard in the distance. This made the hair at the back of his neck stand on end. He shivered internally as he stepped the entire way into the Labyrinth. He felt his eyes tear up when the doors suddenly shut loudly behind him. Grasping his sword tightly, he yanked it free from its scabbard as he started running one way through the Labyrinth.

The howling increased and this time Toby was certain that it had edged closer to him. He sped up, reveling all of a sudden at the long legs given to him. What would've taken him six steps, he did in one stride. He felt his unfamiliar heart thumping erratically against his chest and he felt a sudden rush overcome him. He was older, stronger, faster; he could do anything. Toby grinned, taking one giant leap and landing on the balls of his feet. He bent down and discarded his boots. He tossed aside the heavy, dark cloak that threatened to suffocate him and broke into a run.

He loved running around at home all the time like this. The earth beneath his feet felt so right. Pushing sweaty hair out of his eyes, Toby tossed his head back and laughed, feeling a strong resolve flow through his body. His eyes shined with anticipation as he sped up even more, kicking his legs up so that he bounced from one narrow wall to the next before settling down on the ground once more. His fist crunched into a fist and tightened his grip on his sword.

* * *

"I wouldn't lay around in a place like this where someone can easily take advantage of you in your sleep."

Sarah sat up sharply in her sleeping bag at the sound of the voice, freezing in place when she saw Jareth smirking at her. His features were illuminated by an oil lamp he held in one hand. She scooted away from him as far as she could, forcing the cover of the sleeping bag up to her chest. Jareth leaned back on the railing across from her looking amused as she tried to edge away from him. She tried to discreetly place the journal beneath one of her legs without taking her eyes off of him.

"What are you doing here so late at night?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Sarah asked, turning the question on him.

"I had returned to my chambers for some much needed rest after a long day in my office. I looked down and found you fast asleep outside. Reading in the dim light can be bad for the eyes." Jareth held out an oil lamp out toward Sarah. "I suggest you go back to your room unless you wish to go blind."

Sarah squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze."I-I'll be fine. I'll go to bed when I'm ready. B-besides, I like sleeping under the stars," she stuttered.

"Stubborn as always." Jareth gave a lazy shrug of his shoulders and turned to disapparate.

"Wait!"

Jareth glanced over his shoulder at her and waited for her to continue.

"Can I...can I see Ludo again?" Sarah hated the pleading in her voice. She looked at him through her long lashes in shame. "Please?" she added as an after thought, hoping it would help somehow.

Jareth lifted a delicate eyebrow. "Watching that creature toss and turn in an oubliette is hardly going to put you at ease, is it? Besides you should be focusing on the task at hand."

Sarah's head bowed. She guessed that was a _no_. "Well...well, could you at least tell me if I have any sort of connection to the Labyrinth by any chance?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"Do I?" Sarah pressed.

"That I couldn't say for sure. What's this all of a sudden?"

"I had a dream about a boy running through the Labyrinth. I've never seen him before but somehow he seems familiar. Now that I have these powers you gave me, does it also come with a link to the Labyrinth?"

Jareth furrowed his eyebrows. "That's not something that should've happened but it's not all that surprising. You are the only person to have ever defeated the Labyrinth, after all. But this dream of yours...perhaps it's only a dream and nothing more."

"It sure _felt _real." Sarah remembered the feel of the wind through her hair and the heat of the sun on her back.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Regardless, I would know if someone had entered my Labyrinth. Ignaceous has temporarily taken my position or so he may have mentioned to you."

Sarah nodded. "He has. You really have to quit it with that, you know? Stealing babies, I mean."

"It's not easy walking away from a job that I and all the Goblin Kings before me were and are bound to." Jareth looked smug after a moment. "Besides, without this job I wouldn't have had the pleasure of meeting you, Sarah."

"I think you mean displeasure," Sarah said dryly.

"At this point, it's undecided." Jareth's eyes glimmered with amusement. "You should probably get some sleep. You'll need your strength for whatever is to come."

Sarah felt a chill crawl up her spine, knowing that nothing good would be awaiting her. Everything would be a constant struggle from here on out. She sighed as she burrowed her feet deeper into her sleeping bag in hopes of seeking warmth. For a long moment, she almost forgot Jareth was there what with all the obstacles ahead plaguing her mind. She glanced up when she heard a rustling movement only to find Jareth sitting on the railing right next to her. His head was tilted upward toward the starry sky, the wind catching his flaxen tendrils in a gentle caress. Sarah stared at the Goblin King for a long time. Normally, she wouldn't think twice about telling him to beat it but as she watched him now, she wondered how he could sit by her in silence- almost companionably even.

The man was a complete enigma. She could never tell what was on his mind. Sarah dragged her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She tucked her chin on top of them and let her mind wander. The dream she had had felt so real. The boy seemed so familiar to her but she couldn't quite tack a name to the face. It was strange how she could see everything he saw, felt everything, even felt his heart beat and his emotions ranging from confusion to fear to excitement. Sarah bit her lip. Another runner; another person who would have to fight their way through the Labyrinth to get back their brother or sister.

Jareth had said it might have been just a dream yet here she was in a place that made no sense. The Underground was a place where anything was possible. There was a high chance that her dreams could be connected to the Labyrinth somehow. Maybe that link could lead her to Ludo. The thought alone sent her heart pounding with anticipation. If only the right opportunity could present itself so that Sarah could see for herself if her theory was true.

"Your mind is a strange thing."

Sarah stiffened up at the sound of Jareth's voice. She turned to look at him only to find him in the same position, still as a statue with his eyes closed and wind blowing his hair around. She waited for him to expand but he said nothing.

"What do you mean?"

"You said you think your dreams may have some sort of link to the Labyrinth. This may not be far from the true but I'm not entirely certain," Jareth murmured. "Putting that aside, I can see and feel your emotions very clearly right now. That's another thing you need to learn to control."

"How?" Sarah gawked at him. "How can you tell what I'm feeling?" She felt a shiver crawl down her spine when he slowly tilted his head forward and opened his eyes to gaze at her. His expression held a kind of intensity that held Sarah in a trance for a long moment.

Jareth half-smiled. "This wind we feel right now shows me everything, it's being caused by you, after all." He closed his eyes momentarily. "Anxiety, anticipation, confusion. It's all there and very much you." He laughed lightly. "I was very much like you at your age; emotionally-wise at least. My emotions were always very obvious. In the beginning it was very hard for me to master my powers as well." His blue and brown eyes suddenly took on a glazed effect as if he was watching his past play before him. "When I was in a fowl disposition, thunderstorms would hover over the Labyrinth. When I was in anguish, it was plunged into darkness. If I was irritated, a hale storm would erupt."

"Noticed happy wasn't tacked onto any of those."

"Very few things make me _happy_, Sarah." Jareth's eyes swept over Sarah, his cruel smile returning once more. "It was always like that for me but once I learned to control my powers, the effects of my emotions were kept in check. Even a little girl like you can overcome your feeble human feelings." When Sarah glared at him, Jareth continued. "You said I had no heart, how very right you were. However, my lack of _heart_ allows me to do whatever I want..._with_ whoever I want."

The sudden hungry-wolf look in his eyes sent Sarah crawling backward in her sleeping bag. Jareth made no movement just merely stared intensely at her. He blinked and the look as if he wanted to devour her had disappeared. The expression was still there though, very clear in Sarah's mind. But it wasn't Jareth's face she was seeing exactly...it was Jeremy. It was the same way he had looked at her mother, except his expression had what Jareth's was lacking; pure love.

He's not Jeremy, she reminded herself. He never was. They may have looked alike- enough to be brothers- but it was clear that Jareth and Jeremy were two different beings entirely. Jeremy was a passionate guy who followed his heart, so passionate that he had to whisk away her mother away from all her unhappiness while Jareth was an evil tyrant with a twisted mind. It made Sarah sad to think that maybe she had been apart of that large unhappiness in her mother's life. But that night she had seen her mother leave the house in tears...those tears had been for her, hadn't they? Sarah shook her head at the thought of her mother when she felt that cold familiar fist clutch her heart.

"Do you delight in getting under my skin this much?"

A smirk spread across Jareth's face. "You have no idea, darling." It faltered somewhat when he saw Sarah's head bow down and her shoulders begin to shake a little. "Something ails you?"

Sarah snapped out of her daze, blinking away tears. "No, it's nothing."

Jareth said nothing more on the matter. Instead he stood up, cloak billowing behind him and asked, "Will you tell me what you will be performing for me or will I just have to be surprised?"

The question surprised Sarah but she was relieved that he hadn't taunted her for crying or pressed her with questions. She held the tears back, and stared at Jareth with a perplexed expression. A weary smile attached itself to her lips after a moment.

"You'll just have to be surprised."

"Seems like the same situation as always. Very well then," he said, pushing himself off the railing. "Good night, Sarah."

Before Sarah could say anything, he had apparated out of her sight. Her eyes were cast heavenward as she replayed her time with Jareth. She could see the light in his bedroom extinguished a few seconds later. He wasn't Jeremy. Jeremy wasn't Jareth. It was clear now that although similar in appearance, they were both completely different. Different manner of speaking, different expressions, different way of thinking. Two different men who had both played significant roles in her life. They had both barged into her life without warning only to take away the most beloved people in her world. Why did she have to have such complicated men in her life? All she could seem to hope for was that one day both of them would get exactly what they deserved.

Sarah pulled the journal out from under her leg. For a moment, she considered going through a few more entries, before her eyes wandered to where Jareth had left the oil lamp burning brightly right next to her._ Reading in the dim light can be bad for the eyes._ Ironically enough, that was exactly the same thing her mother used to scold her about. Taking one last look at her journal, she stuffed it back into its place under the loose stone before settling back into her sleeping bag, trying to get the images of two men out of her mind.

**A/N: I can't jam-pack the entire chapter with JarethxSarah moments as much as I would love to. I wanted this chapter to give a better insight as to why Jareth makes Sarah nervous. I had heard that in the book, Jareth and Jeremy looked very similar and it hinted that "Jareth" had been the one that Linda had ran off with. I hadn't incorporated that into this story because how weird would it be if I had made Jareth run off with Linda and then suddenly chase after her daughter? lol. The whole idea just sounds wrong to me so I decided to make them two separate people. I chose _Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri _to base this chapter off because Jareth and Jeremy are "heartbreakers" and go around stealing all of Sarah's loved ones, which are Toby and Linda, therefore hurting her in the process. Sarah at this point has never actually been in love so her greatest love is her family of course. I hope you liked the chapter and I hope you will provide some feedback on it. Plz R/R I worked really hard on this chapter.**


	4. Snow White's Awakening

**A/N: In case any of you were wondering, my version of older Toby looks a lot like Jeremy ****Sumpter****. I wanted to give you guys a good idea of what Toby looks like now. Jeremy ****Sumpter****, for those of you who don't know, is the guy that played Peter Pan in the 2003 live action film. I love that movie, it's one of my favorites. :P Man, I remember having a huge crush on him along with the rest of my sixth grade class years back. If he was cute then then you guys should see what he looks like now all grown up. ****XD**** He's gorgeous!**

_"I'm searching for answers not questioned before. The curse of awareness. There's no peace of mind as your true colors show a dangerous sign. It's in your eyes, what's on your mind? I see the truth that you've buried inside. It's in your eyes, what's on your mind? There is no mercy, just anger I find." - A Dangerous Mind ~ Within Temptation_

**Mortal Instrument **

_Chapter 4: Snow White's Awakening_

"Let's go over our lines again!" Sarah's face fell when the goblins continued horse-playing instead of complying with her request. She groaned with irritation. She turned to Didymus who seemed unperturbed by the noise going on around him and was meticulously looking over his script. "Didymus, did you figure out where we can get our costumes?"

Didymus glanced up from his script and shook his head regretfully. "I'm sorry, My Lady, no luck so far. I don't suppose you can sew?"

Sarah gave a sheepish half-shrug. "Not really. My stepmom tried to teach me once but it always has to be perfection with her so I just didn't bother much with it afterward."

"Could you possibly use your magic to conjure them up or perhaps ask Ignaceous to do it for you?"

Sarah sighed. "I'm not far enough in my magic lessons to manage that. I could _maybe _try asking Ignaceous..." She felt less than thrilled at the mere prospect of asking the fae for any favors. "If he won't agree to help, don't worry about it. We'll figure something out." She smiled encouragingly at him, before turning around to face her goblin co-stars. She clapped her hands twice to try to grab their attention once more. "OK, from the top!"

Her shoulders slumped when they continued chattering noisily amongst themselves. Some director she was turning out to be. Hoggle appeared beside Sarah, looking quite exasperated himself. He took a deep breath, before cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Will all of ya shut up and listen?" he bellowed.

His voice echoed throughout the theater over and over again like a broken record. In perfect synchronization, the entire room went still as death. Sarah gawked at Hoggle, clearly impressed before turning back to the group of goblins. Sarah adjusted the cuffs of Jareth's white long-sleeved poet's shirt, trying her best to look professional.

"Come on, you guys. We have to continue with our rehearsals. Jareth expects our performance very soon so we can't afford to waste time." Sarah clasped her hands in front of her. "I hope all of you have been practicing your lines on your own. Umm...let's start from Act 3 Scene 2. It's one of the easiest scenes. Go lie down and play dead, Hoggle," she said off-handedly, but a playful smile quirked on one side of her mouth as she said this.

Hoggle looked disgruntled but complied with her request none-the-less. The rest of the goblins gathered around him and simultaneously burst into crocodile tears. Sarah was awestruck with the progress they had made in such a short amount of time. Before they couldn't stop laughing long enough to get their lines across. It was partly due to being in distracting locations like the garden and kitchen. Soon into their rehearsals, Sarah had grown impatient with the lack of progress, and asked them if they could go find a much quieter room to practice in. Rouge suggested a place that was far more than she had expected. It wasn't so much a room but more of a huge opera house theater complete with box seats and a giant diamond chandelier overhead.

Being inside it now, Sarah kind of wished they could have done Phantom of the Opera instead of Snow White. The atmosphere seemed just perfect for it. She rolled her eyes inwardly. Wow. Now it actually sounded like she was looking forward to entertaining Jareth. Yeah, that would be the day. She closed her eyes to clear her thoughts of such idocy and allowed the mask of the prince to take over. This was an exercise she had seen her mother do right before going onstage to perform. As a child, she had found it amazing how easily her mother could slip from one guise to another. She had witnessed her caring mother turn into a heartless sorceress, a regal queen, an adventurous peasant woman...Linda had made each character her own.

Sarah remembered asking about the secret to this incredible technique of hers' but Linda said that there was none. She claimed that playing a role was about understanding your character's feelings, and completely stripping away your own persona while onstage. From there, Sarah learned that auditioning for a part was more than just acting; it was about forgetting everything else and make believing you really are your given character. Linda taught her that if she were to break character while performing on opening night; the smallest stumble of words or involuntary tears shed would ruin the illusion created for the audience.

She opened her eyes, revealing sheer curiosity as she strode purposefully over to the _'dwarfs'_. Her eyes widened when she saw Hoggle lying down on the ground with a lily clutched in both hands. The goblins gasped when they saw Sarah and broke their circle to let her through. They wiped their eyes and blowed loudly into handkerchiefs as they did so. All seven of them each had their own different colored rose to present to Snow White as a farewell gift. Sarah now stood beside Hoggle, her expression filled with so much awe and longing.

"What is she? What has befallen her?"

"She's not a what but a whom," Pondscum croaked out. He lifted a handkerchief up to his face to wipe the remaining tears from his toffee-colored eyes. "The witch gave her a poisoned apple and now she has left us for good, I'm afraid."

"She's quite..._beautiful_," Sarah said, her voice raw with emotion. Sarah stepped closer as if in a trance. She pantomimed taking a hat off in respect, and bent down on one knee beside Hoggle. Her hand hovered over Hoggle's face in a slow, circling motion as if she herself doubted the princess couldn't be anything more than a flawless dream. She drew her hand immediately back to her side as if she had just been scorched. "Incredible. I've never seen anything like her." Sarah chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully and pantomimed fiddling with her hat. "I wish to take her with me."

Pondscum stepped forward, eyes wide and mouth hanging open in shock. "Your Highness! She's dead! What could ye possible want with her?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself. All I know is that just by looking at her, I receive the serenity I've craved for in my lifetime's obligation to war. If I could have her, I would make sure she was put in a room where the sunlight touches her best. I would come give her flowers everyday. Read her poetry. Bring in a cage of canaries to sing to her." Sarah stood up, back ram-rod straight and appeared entirely business-like once more. "I'll give you however much you want for her."

"Unacceptable!" Didymus shouted. He fiddled with his the sword resting in its scabbard at his side, and his mouth twisted into a fearsome scowl. A ferocious snarl escaped his lips. "You can't put a price on a person- _especially_ if they are deceased."

"My intentions are pure, believe me. I consider her a work of art. Standing so close to her like this, I almost believe she is still alive. If she were, I would profess my undying love and loyalty to her. Since it's impossible, I wish for her to remain close to me even if I can never truly have her."

Didymus blinked. "Thou has a way with words, Your Majesty. They're very beautiful. I'm sure our fair maiden, Miss Snow White would have also thought so. She was quite the dreamer."

"Snow White?" Sarah turned her attention once more to Hoggle and a slow tender smile spread across her face. "Perfect. I couldn't think of a more perfect name to call her. May I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"How long has she been in this glass casket?"

"A few days now."

"Hmm. Interesting. Her cheeks are rosy and her lips are still as red as blood." Sarah pantomimed putting her hat back on her head. She placed a pensive hand on her chin as she stared down at Hoggle. "I'll tell you what. Leave her under my custody for a month and I'll bring you back whatever you'd like. If by the end of the month, her body begins to decay, I will bring her safely back to you and help with her burial. If it doesn't then she is mine to keep."

"What..." Rouge started, wringing her auburn-colored hands nervously. "What does His Majesty hope to accomplish? The young girl is dead. Gone."

Sarah thinned her lips into a hard line. "I'll be the judge of that."

Didymus, Pondscum and the rest of the dwarfs stared at one another with a mixture of horror and great hesitation.

"Well...we have been running short on food," Rouge said, wistfully twirling a lock of rust-colored hair. She ducked her head in shame when Pondscum spun around to glare at her.

Didymus scowled and was about to retort when Sarah stepped forward all of a sudden.

"Regardless of your answer, you are _aware_ that I can come here and simply _take _her from you." Sarah's eyes narrowed as she said this, making the dwarfs stare back in fear. Her green orbs softened after a moment, and the light returned to them once more. "But I wasn't taught to do such things. I would much rather give you my word as a prince- as a man- that I will take care of her and that when the bargain has reached completion, I will deliver all of your necessities to your door."

Didymus looked greatly disturbed but as he stared at his fellow dwarfs, he knew that there was no other choice. He didn't think they would make it past the end of month even if they cut down on their portions.

"Very well, sire..." He sighed, his shoulders sagging as he felt the weight of a heavy burden settle over them. His expression could only match best with Atlas. "We leave her in your hands."

"Thank you."

Sarah reached down and gently lifted Hoggle into her arms; before she turned like on parade to walk offstage. They all froze at the sound of clapping. It was none other than Ignaceous who was sitting in the front row grinning at them. His arms were thrown lazily behind his neighboring red velvet cushioned seats. Today he wore clothes that were moderately less elegant than his usual everyday clothes. His gold-streaked brown hair as usual appeared spiky and untamed at every angle. He wore a dark blue sleeved shirt that criss-crossed at the neck along with matching breeches. It made him look much more deceptively thin than he already was. Sarah's face went from surprised to purely irritated. She placed Hoggle back on his feet, and leaped off the stage to stand in front of Ignaceous.

"Oh, that was simply_ touching_. I think I might have actually shed a tear."

Sarah gave him a dirty look. "What're you doing here, Ignaceous?"

"Why, enjoying the show of course." He smiled and waved at the goblins who were staring nervously at him. Ambrosious who watching the play on the sidelines, whimpered and trotted off to hide behind the curtains. "Please, don't stop on my account. I want to see how it ends...Are you wearing Jareth's garments again?"

"So what if I am? It helps me get into character. And before you ask, yes, I do wash it regularly."

"Whatever you say, princess." Ignaceous held his hands up in surrender as he stood up, his ever-present silver leaf earring winking at her. "Well, I came to fetch you for our daily magic lessons." He gave her a smile meant to be rueful as he extended his arm out for her to take.

"I'm not a dog," Sarah muttered. Her words reminded her of Ambrosious, casting a dirty look at Ignaceous in retaliation. "I'm not going to make any move to follow you. I have practice right now so you'll just have to wait." She glanced over her shoulder at the uncertain goblins before turning back to Ignaceous, hoping he would take a hint and beat it.

"Alright, then. I'll patiently wait but once you're done, we really must be getting to practice. Jareth has been hounding me lately about teaching you the correct way or something like that. I don't see anything wrong with my teaching methods," Ignaceous said, sniffling as though wounded.

"Having me do breathing excersises upside down is hardly a convincing teaching method," Sarah said dryly.

Ignaceous looked amused. "Although, it may seem like I'm mocking you, my methods do have a purpose and they are to help improve your potential."

"You think I have potential?" Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, you are my most promising student."

Sarah's face went from skepticism to a withering look. "Aren't I your _only _student?"

"Yes, but that doesn't change anything." Ignaceous smiled, revealing one of his canines poking out from his lower lip. "Please continue. I've never heard of Snow White before but it sounds like an interesting story."

"How could you not have heard of Snow White before?" Sarah balked at him, shifting her weight from one foot to another. "There's a book of fairy tales in Jareth's library. I thought they were told as often here as they are in my world."

"Jareth's a fan of mortal tales and plays." Ignaceous shrugged. "It's to be expected. He's always been the black sheep of his family, after all."

"I noticed he had a few human books in his office but I didn't think much of it."

Ignaceous nodded. "Though, Jareth can't pass into the Aboveground as a human other than times like Samhain and Beltane, he's always been fascinated by human culture."

"How is it he can't but you can?"

"That's simple. I'm special," Ignaceous said, grinning as he proudly puffed his chest out.

"Seriously."

"Alright, _seriously_. I belonged to the indirect cause of my banishment. Jareth couldn't stand the thought of me being anywhere near the Underground so he resorted to the Dark Arts to exile me to the Aboveground until he so wished for my use again."

"Indirectly?" Sarah scoffed. "That's ridiculous."

Ignaceous snapped his fingers. "Now that's what I said, but in the end, it really doesn't matter whether or not I was banished. I'm back, you see, so even though I'm working for Jareth it's of little consequence to me."

Sarah shook her head, sighing loudly. "I'm not gonna be able to concentrate with you around." She turned around to face her goblin friends. "Let's end practice for today. We'll continue where we left off tomorrow. Remember to practice your lines."

She walked down the crimson carpetted aisle that led to a pair of arch-shaped wooden doors. She shoved them open and took long strides in hopes of escaping Ignaceous. He easily caught up with her in a few easy strides, walking backward as he did so.

"Don't tell me that I'm the only one who enjoys our little get-togethers." Ignaceous pouted mockingly.

"I would much rather train myself," Sarah said, feeling sure of herself. "There must be some books in the library that can show me how to master my powers."

"A book is a good resource but doesn't compare to a flesh and blood teacher whose conveniently right here at your disposal." Ignaceous sighed as she took larger steps and turned the corner sharply. He grabbed her wrist before she had a chance to teleport away from him. "You may hate me for what I did to your friend but that doesn't mean you should try to take every chance you can to get away from me. I'm no one you should run away from."

Sarah glared at him fiercely. "Hate is a strong word yet it's the closest one to the truth." She pulled her wrist out of his grip, and crunched it into a fist at her side. "I can't trust someone as violent and arrogant as you to teach me."

Ignaceous seemed to consider this. "You could always have Jareth teach you himself if you really absolutely believe I'm not suited to the task." He placed a pensive hand on his chin. "Then again, Jareth seems far too busy to trifle himself with a mortal's infantile tantrums."

"Tantrums?" Sarah was outraged at the thought. "I'm not so much of a child that I'd be going around throwing tantrums."

"Then start acting like the lady you are somewhere bloody deep inside of you," Ignaceous said irritably, running his hand through his golden-steaked brown tresses. "Regardless whether you like me or not, Jareth has ordered me to take care of you in this area. Since I've given an oath to serve Jareth in whatever he wishes, only death can excuse me from this task so don't go deciding things on your own." He sighed deeply, and rubbed his temples when he saw Sarah was about to protest again. He raised a hand to hush her up. "Listen, if I reveal to you a secret, will you come along more willingly to my lessons?"

Sarah blinked, her animosity toward him waning somewhat. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion none-the-less. "What secret?"

"The secret of the Fae," Ignaceous said, enigma coating his voice. "If a mortal knows our given names then they are allowed to ask us whatever question they want."

"Just one?" Sarah looked dubious.

"It's better than nothing, girl, take it over leave it," he drawled. He leaned against the wall with one long leg poised against it. "I'm about to give you the most valuable thing I possess so listen up."

"And you're just going to give it to me that easily?" Sarah asked dryly, clearly not convinced.

"Whatever helps me seem like more agreeable company to you. I can hardly do the job Jareth has requested of me if my student is always seeing me in the darkest light." He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "My name is Icelos Ignaceous Inglorium. Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?"

"...Inglorium?"

Ignaceous quirked his head to one side. "Yes?"

"Isn't that a Latin word?"

"Yes, it means undistinguished or inglorious." He chuckled callously. "Ironic, isn't it? How perfectly fitting for my situation- to live an eternity under Jareth's shadow."

"You shouldn't have to live like that forever. Isn't there some way you can quit?"

"Quit?" Ignaceous barked out a self-loathing laugh, and pushed himself off the wall to stand in front of Sarah. "The only way I could ever be free is when Jareth no longer finds use for me. That or when he or I dies. Which ever one comes last." He gave her a flat look at the face she was making. "Don't start having pity on me now. I just gave you the most important thing that belongs to me so stop giving me that look of sympathy and put what I've given you to good use."

Sarah dropped her gaze for a moment, biting her lip as she struggled to come up with the right question. He had already told her once before that he knew no information on the three objects she was supposed to find. Virtually, anything Ignaceous answered for her probably wouldn't come in handy. Now maybe if she could just discover what Jareth's full name was then maybe she could get him to give her one or two more clues. She thought carefully for a moment as to what she could ask Ignaceous; something that might show her the real him. Even for the smallest moment just so she could try and understand him a bit better.

"What is it that you desire the most in this world?"

The question seemed to catch Ignaceous offguard. His eyes hardened but he answered after a moment with some difficulty. "I desire to stop loving someone dear to me so that I can finally go on with my life."

"Someone you can't stop loving," Sarah whispered. Her eyes stared searchingly into his moss green ones, the amber ring around his pupil not as bright as usual. He had been hurt before. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have asked about something so private."

Ignaceous shrugged. "You had a right to ask me whatever you wished. I may serve a false king, seem cruel at times but I...don't possess a false heart. It shouldn't be that surprising I was once in love." He smiled bitterly at himself. "Actually, I think I fell into lust for a while before I fell so deeply in love. Care to guess what kind of person I loved?"

Sarah hesitated. "Umm..."

"Quite vain and selfish." Ignaceous laughed lightly without humor. He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. Sarah noted this was becoming a habit he did when he was irritated, nervous or even uncomfortable. "I'm sure you must be thinking that we must suit each other. That was what I thought in the beginning, thinking I finally found someone just like me." He frowned. "That was my first and last mistake. I know I'm a horrible person...so why I would I want to chase after someone just like me? In the end, I was used and discarded."

"Is it...is it alright for you to be telling me all this?" Sarah cast her gaze down at her feet, suddenly finding Jareth's boots very fascinating. "I asked you to tell me what you most desired. You- you don't have to go into detail if it bothers you."

Ignaceous clearly amused, stepped closer to her and chucked her chin up so that their eyes met. "Princess, nothing you say can bother me. I'm only here to fulfil my purpose." He withdrew his hand to his side. "You're right, I didn't have to go into detail about my love-hate relationship with my ex-fiancee, but telling you a bit more about myself kind of feels like we've penetrated through the wall."

"Wall?" Sarah quirked her head to the side in confusion.

"Yes, the wall that divides us from becoming friends. Like this, it feels like we're breaking down every barrier that's in the way."

Sarah looked at him skeptically. "You...really want to be my friend? Why?"

"I find you interesting. Besides, you're the only other one besides Jareth who can hold an intelligent conversation with me," Ignaceous said matter-of-factly. "And an enemy of Jareth..." He gave her a feral smile. "Is a friend of mine, of course."

"I'm sorry. I can't accept you so easily." Sarah crossed her arms over her chest, her hands gripping at her elbows tightly as her gaze fell to the floor once more. "You tricked me when we first met. You work for Jareth. You do and say things without care or remorse. I can't be your friend if you make me doubt your trust." She rose her gaze to meet his, and saw no hint or flicker of emotion on his perfect fae face. "Friendship really seems out of the question...for now. But I can offer you the chance to humiliate me."

Ignaceous smirked. "How so?"

"You can ask me whatever you want. Whenever I ask you something while using your name, you can ask me something too." Sarah blushed, wringing her hands together. "Just nothing too embarrassing, okay?"

Ignaceous laughed lightly. "An eye for eye, Sarah. Hmm...let's see now." He stroked his chin and laughed when Sarah glared at him, wordlessly telling him to get on with it. "When we first met, you told me that you had been in love before...Did that love ever bloom?"

"No," Sarah said instantly. She shook her head and smiled. "Well, to be honest it wasn't really love at all just...a distraction. A small attraction. It wasn't a big deal or anything."

Ignaceous nodded. "I see. I hope you recognize love when you see it in its true light."

"You're kind of deep today. Why is that?"

"Who knows. Perhaps I was moved by your play. Or perhaps just being back in this castle has triggered back unwanted memories." Ignaceous closed his eyes for a moment, before a grin spread across his face. "Well, I can hardly stand myself being this gloomy. Let's move onto magic lessons, shall we?"

He held out his arm, his expression displaying the cheeriness that his eyes failed to reach. Sarah for once couldn't find a reason to reject his awaiting outstretched arm.

* * *

It was quite a relief once practice was over with Ignaceous. Ever since, they had had their conversation about love earlier, he had been acting strange- er than usual. It was like he was trying even harder now to maintain his image of a devil-may-care guy. As soon as he had left her room, Sarah apparated into the gardens, hoping she'd find Hoggle and Didymus there. Her face fell when she saw that they were no where to be found. They usually all met up near the blue rose bushes. She stared intently at them as she walked closer, half-hoping her friends to magically appear before her. With a sigh, Sarah went to go stand against the stone wall where the creepers grew. If she waited long enough, they might just show up.

Despite herself having made it clear to the goblins that she wanted them all to practice, she really wanted some time with her friends. Next time, though, she hoped to invite them all have a picnic with them. Sarah tilted her head up toward the sky. It was a dull gray color with barely any sunlight at all peeking through the cracks of the bulbous clouds. She turned her attention away from the sky after a moment and faced the small hedge maze within the garden. It only extended within the garden itself so it was impossible to get lost in it. The walls were high, well trimmed with shining emerald and topaz leaves glistening from them. Sarah had never tried walking into the maze but one of these days, if she ever found the time, she thought she might take the chance to explore it.

Sarah bit her lip. The maze reminded her of...the Labyrinth. Ludo. He must be so lonely. She faintly wondered if he even remembered her now that he was only a shadow of his former self. How could so much have changed in just a month of her absence? Sarah sighed. It seemed like she was doing that a lot lately. This was all just such a huge responsibility to carry out. She had to figure out all three riddles, before the thirteen weeks were up and somehow find the time to go search for Ludo. All while attending magic lessons and organizing entertainment for Jareth. To add the big cherry to the cake, most girls don't have Goblin Kings breathing down their necks and ordering them not to go anywhere near the Labyrinth. Sarah scoffed at the notion. Ludo was her friend, she wasn't just going to leave him. One way or another, there was no questioning that she would find him.

Her stomach started gurgling and she knew she would have to eat soon. She spread out a red and white checkered blanket, smoothing down the wrinkles, before setting down the picnic basket she had arranged just for her and her friends. Imagine the looks on the goblins' faces when they saw her using their kitchen to prepare avocado sandwiches, cookies and crackers smothered in cream-cheese and olives (her so-called ordeurves) for her friends. There were still the usual whispers heard behind her back, but other than that they never objected to her using their kitchen.

Sarah ate her sandwich contentedly, smiling with each bite of the combination of the soft bread, salty avocado and ham. She grabbed a chocolate chip cookie, and nearly groaned with delight as her teeth sunk into it. It was true; everything tasted better homemade. Her heart gave a slight squeeze as she recalled that she and her mother used to spend their rainy days baking cookies together. Not just cookies but cake, icecream and a whole bunch of other sweet treats. They would compete to see who made the better desert by having Sarah's father taste test them whenever he would come home from work. Despite the bitterness lodged in her chest, she knew that she missed those precious times that she used to spend with her mother.

Tears began to rise in Sarah's eyes, and just as she tried blinking them back, she froze when she heard a familiar voice. Jareth...he was singing. As if in a trance, Sarah slowly rose up from the blanket and started walking toward the hedge maze. It was that song from before- the song that Sarah had desperately tried to remember. She took many sharp turns as her ears were filled with the bittersweet song. She tried to mouth along with the words as she heard them. The longer time passed, the easier it was for her to follow along and actually remember certain parts of the song. Just as Sarah was about to turn right, she jumped back where she was, partly hidden away in the shadows of the shrubbery.

Lying in the center of the hedge maze on a stone bench, was Jareth with one knee drawn up while the other hung limply over the side. He had an arm thrown over his eyes as he sang. A tiny pond sat a few yards from Jareth, a few swans feeding on the abundant pink lilies floating about the sparkling blue-green water. There was an orchard of a variety of fruits and flowers surrounding him in a half-circle. Sarah watched him for a long moment, trying to decipher how such beautiful words could come from such a man. She stared at Jareth's form that seemed to very much belong among the flowers and trees. Just as Sarah was thinking of turning back, she stiffened up when she saw a child come out from behind one of the hedge walls and walked silently toward Jareth. A fae child. Sarah raised an eyebrow. Who was she? What did she think she was doing?

The fae girl bent down in front of Jareth, and placed a chaste kiss on his forehead. Sarah watched in amazement as Jareth grinned and sat up sharply, swinging the girl onto his lap as he did so. She giggled and offered him a tiny bouquet of blue roses. Jareth smiled gently as accepted them. They appeared to be engaged in deep conversation, but Sarah wasn't close enough to understand their words. That was when she felt a tug on her pant leg. She glanced down in surprise when she saw Hoggle waving his hand to get her attention. His eyes were wide with confusion and fear.

"Sarah, wat ya think ya doin'? No one ever comes here but Jareth."

Sarah glanced back at Jareth, frowning at the happy pair, completely disregarding Hoggle's words. "Who is that girl?"

"Can't say I've seen her before. Must be awful important for Jareth to be smilin' like that," Hoggle huffed. "Then again, the only time he ever really smiles is when he's singin', dancin' or whenever he's 'round children. Especially 'round children, actually. Hard ta understand a cruel fae like that who apparently has no heart but insists on adorin' children."

"He really likes children that much?"

Hoggle shrugged. "Dunno. I heard Jareth was an only child, that might have somethin' ta do wit it. That or Jareth just always wanted children of his own, ya know, for heirs and whatnot."

"Huh," Sarah murmured distractedly as she continued to stare at Jareth and the little girl with a mixture of awe and confusion. She would never understand him, she decided. She turned back to Hoggle. "How did you know I was here?"

"I saw the picnic basket and figured you wouldn't have gone far if you just left it there."

Sarah smiled. "It's for you, Didymus and Ambrocious. I hope you guys like it."

"Aw shucks, Sarah." Hoggle looked embarrassed for a change. "Ya didn't have ta do that."

"Don't be silly, I wanted to. I'd like to spend some time with you guys before Jareth makes some ridiculous order that drags you away from me as always," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's go back and wait for Didymus and Ambrosious to get here."

Sarah slipped her hand into Hoggle's, and let him lead the way back through the hedge maze. "Good thing this maze isn't very big. I wouldn't want Jareth to stumble upon us." They managed to make their way out of the maze as easily as they had found their way to its center. Sarah felt a giggle bubble up her throat and escape her lips, making Hoggle give her an odd look in question. "I wish the Labyrinth had been this easy to solve three years ago. Imagine actually getting lost in a little maze like this and never finding your way out."

"I've heard of stranger things," Hoggle said as he dropped down onto the picnic blanket. Sarah kneeled down next to him, and began pouring him some juice. "Thanks," he said, downing half of it in one chug. "Uhh...erm any news on Ludo?"

Sarah stared at him a moment, all trace of her giddiness fading away as she remembered Ludo. "Jareth won't tell me anything, of course," she said bitterly, resting her chin in her hand, lightly running one through her dark tresses. "Hoggle, you know your way around the Oubliettes better than anyone. Surely, you can find him."

"Well, what do ya think I've been doin' all this time, fritterin' around and learnin' interpretive dance?" Hoggle sighed as he stared down into his plastic red cup. "I've stumbled across a lot of creatures in the Oubliettes but I haven't been lucky enough to find Ludo. I doubt I'd recognize him anymore even if I did find him."

"If these monsters that rome the Labyrinth are so dangerous, then how do you always manage to escape?"

"That's simple enough." Hoggle knocked his fist against his noggin gently. "Gave 'em scraps of me memories."

"Memories?" Sarah echoed in wonder.

"Yes, ya see, they want memories because they can't remember their own. I s'ppose ya can't hope to be completely whole without a dream. I gave a few bits and pieces of memories I don't even remember meself. The monster prolly took a memory from me childhood or somethin' like that."

"I just remembered something, Hoggle. Though, Jareth wasn't straight out with me, I think that maybe I may have some kind of connection with the Labyrinth. I keep having these dreams," Sarah said, placing her hands on her temple as if to will the memory of her dream before her. "...about this boy. He seems so familiar to me but I'm almost positive we've never met before. But I can feel everything he feels as if our hearts are in sync with one another."

Hoggle looked skeptical. "Sarah, I don't think ya should go fallin' for imaginary dream men-

"Oh, for goodness sake, I'm not in love with anyone! When I say our hearts are in sync, I don't mean romantically," Sarah said, slapping his shoulder lightly, smiling a bit as she did so. "It just feels like our emotions are so in tune. It's like when he's sad, there's a part of me that's sad for him. When he's scared, I'm scared for him too."

"Umm...err well, that's rather strange. And ya say Jareth didn't give ya any insight on dat?"

"No, not like he would even if he wanted to tell me." Sarah frowned and bit her lips. "I think-

She paused when she heard a rustling of clothing behind Hoggle. She couldn't hide her surprise when she saw a beautiful woman standing a few feet from them. Couldn't have been any other creature but fae since Sarah had never seen a more beautiful woman in her life. The woman had long snowy hair that trailed past her waist and blue bottled glass-colored eyes. She was dressed in an elegant, blue-black iridiscent gown that pooled around her feet. The lacy black rose-patterned sleeves exposed her creamy neck and collarbone. They sank below her shoulders, and the sleeves flared out at the ends of her wrists. Mauve colored her pale eyelids and lips; forming a tear drop just below her bottom lip.

"Oh." Sarah let out a breath of surprise. "Hello."

The woman inclined her head in greeting, smiling at her with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Hello. Who might you be?"

"I'm Sarah- Sarah Williams."

"I thought as much," the woman said, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she walked imperiously toward Sarah and Hoggle. "You are the great Champion of the Labyrinth that everybody's been talking about non-stop. So how did it feel, dear?"

Sarah furrowed her eyebrows. "How did what feel?"

"Why, defeating the Goblin King, of course." She smirked. "That's no mean feat. You accomplished something that had never been done by other runners before you. I congratulate you, Sarah Williams."

"Umm...thank you," Sarah said, averting her eyes. She couldn't ignore the nagging, anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach at the way the fae women congratulated her. Only it didn't sound like much of a _'congratulations'_ but more like she was mocking her.

Hoggle coughed loudly before slurping up the rest of his juice in one gulp. He stood up sharply, tugging at Sarah's hand to do the same. "Best we go, Sarah. We have uhh- dat- dat thing we have ta do."

"Huh? Oh, oh right! _That_ thing." Sarah laughed. "How could I forget?" Sarah smiled nervously at the Fae woman. "It was nice meeting you but I really must be going."

The woman pouted and somehow Sarah thought the action didn't suit her at all. "But I thought we were getting along so splendidly, and it's rude to leave without even asking for my name."

Sarah suddenly felt guilty. She had been in the middle of folding the picnic blanket and putting all the food away. "Oh...what's your name?"

"Mizumi, Queen of Moraine."

Sarah nodded like if she really knew of the place Mizumi spoke of.

"Dear child, you must not have the slightest clue of what I'm talking about." Mizumi tutted. "Moraine is a land known for its beauty. I myself am known as the Queen of Cups." She produced a silver goblet encrusted with jewels out of seemingly no where and held it out for Sarah to take. "Here's a small taste from my kingdom. The water is simply too hard to resist. It's richer and sweeter than the ripest of fruit. Care for a drink?"

Sarah stared down at it, catching her rippling reflection in the water. It had a blue tinge to it, like the type of water you would expect to be surrounding a tropical island. Hoggle tried to get a glimpse of it himself by standing tip-toe but to no avail.

"Oh, no thank you," Sarah said. "I'm really full." She gestured at the now packed picnic basket. "I really don't think I have room for anything else."

Mizumi furrowed her eyebrows. "Surely, you can manage a sip or two. It would be rude to refuse a queen's request." She sighed after a momentas she withdrew the goblet. "I had overheard your conversation earlier with the dwarf. Something about looking for your missing friend." Mizumi looked at Sarah through the veil of her long silver lashes. "My power involves all things with water including all matters of the heart. All you need to do is let a single tear of yours fall into this cup and drink it. It will reflect where or with who you want to be with the most and take you right where you wish to be."

Sarah stared in astonishment at the goblet Mizumi held. Her heart skipped a beat. Ludo. She might be able to find Ludo. Still, she kept her distance and merely stared reproachingly from Mizumi to the goblet. Hoggle snorted and took a step forward much to Mizumi's distaste.

"How do we know you're tellin' the truth, _your Highness_?"

"You doubt me?" she hissed, her hair flaring up dangerously around her. "All you would need to do is test it and see for yourself." She held it out to Sarah once more. "Just one little tear from you, young girl, and you can see your friend again."

Sarah bit her lip and crossed her arms over her chest. "Even if you _could_ help me, I can't just make myself cry out of now where."

Mizumi smiled a cold, calloused smile. "That's simple enough." She slipped her hand into the sleeve of her gown, and revealed an extremely thin dagger that closely resembled that of a long needle. Sarah gasped and took a few steps backward in response to it. Mizumi caught her expression and chuckled, coaxing her to come closer. "Don't be frightened, child. I will not harm you. All it takes is a single prick now give me your hand."

"Sarah, I don't know about this," Hoggle muttered, eyeing Mizumi warily.

Sarah drew her brows together and bit her lip as she glanced down at Hoggle. "I don't want to let this chance go by if it means we can find Ludo." She turned to Mizumi with a new found determination and extended her right hand toward her. "Alright, go ahead."

Mizumi nodded and took hold of Sarah's wrist; her silky smooth hand sliding up slowly until it clutched her forefinger. The prick was swift but certainly not painless. Sarah shrieked and withdrew her offended hand, clutching it to her chest as she felt her eyes begin to water. She watched through glassy eyes as Mizumi held the goblet below Sarah's face. Before she knew it, there were tears madly rolling down her face. At least three fell into the goblet. Mizumi stared blankly from the cup to Sarah who was busy wiping at her eyes.

"Good. Now drink."

She pressed the goblet into Sarah's hands, keeping her cool hands clasped over Sarah's for a moment to make sure she wouldn't drop it in her current state. Sarah stared at her now somewhat weepy reflection rippling across the surface. Sure enough, her reflection faded away to reveal Ludo himself. He was roaming around through the Oubliette .She gave a shuddering breath, her hand still tingling from the prick but brought the goblet to her lips. She never got a chance to drink it though...In one swift motion, it was swiped out of her hands. The goblet fell out of Sarah's hands, and clattered noisily against a moss-covered wall. Instantly, the water inside began to hiss as it spilled out as steam shot out of it. The grass, the creepers, the flowers; everything it touched instantly turned dark before fading away into ashes.

"Harassing the poor girl are you, Mizumi?" Jareth appeared next to Sarah, looking aloof as ever.

"Jareth," Mizumi said indifferently, but there was a plesantness in her eyes now. "It's been quite a while."

"Indeed. What brings you here, might I ask? Other than trying to poison the mortal?"

"Poison?" Sarah and Hoggle echoed.

Mizumi smirked. "Secrets never stay secrets for long in the Underground. How long did you think you could hide her from me? From the rest of the Fae?"

"Not much longer, I think. Had you the patience, you could have met Sarah more formally at Beltane," Jareth said silkily.

"I was never the most patient woman," Mizumi purred, pursing her lips seductively.

"That is for damn certain."

Mizumi scowled. "What is this girl to you, Jareth?"

"If she be my consort or anything else, what manner of interest would it concern you?" Jareth went to stand behind Sarah, surprising her when he placed his ever-presently gloved hands on her shoulders. When she opened her mouth to protest, Jareth gave her a firm squeeze on both shoulders that let her know it wasn't wise to butt in.

"This-this girl?" Mizumi was aghast at the idea. "She is practically no more than a child! Hmph. You really know how to choose your women, Jareth." She glared at Sarah. "You may warm his bed but know this, girl, this man is a tyrant. You will never claim his heart."

"I really don't think that's for you to decide," Jareth drawled. "You must leave at once. Let this be a warning. Come to my kingdom unannounced again and harass my people, and I will not be so lenient with you no matter our past together."

"I'm surprised you care so much," Mizumi huffed. "Years ago, you would have hardly cared who I _harrassed_ as you like to put it?"

Jareth let go of Sarah's shoulders and went to go stand in front of her, effectively shielding Mizumi's view of Sarah. "Every life that resides in this kingdom belong to me," he said. "That includes this girl. Touch her and you answer to me."

"But I-

"Goodbye, Mizumi," Jareth said curtly. "Until Beltane, I hope we don't see each other sooner."

Mizumi scowled, taking a few steps back before dipping into an elegant curtsy. "Very well, my king."

With that, she faded from sight on the spot. Jareth turned around only to be greeted by a very angry Sarah.

"How could you do that? You know very well that we..." Sarah gestured at the both of them frantically. "...don't have that kind of relationship!"

"Let me ask you something now," Jareth said, getting right in Sarah's face, his flaxen tendrils tickling her cheeks. "If you don't want people mistaking our relationship or rather lack thereof, then why...are you still parading around in my clothes?" he exploded. Before he could even give her a chance to explain herself, he rushed in to cut her off. "And why would you accept something from a woman you just met? Weren't you taught better than that?"

Sarah looked taken aback by his outburst. "Oh, w-well I..." For the first time, she was left at a total loss of what to say. She had the answer to his question but right now her mind was drawing blanks as she stared up at his scowling face. "I uhhh..."

Jareth closed his eyes, taking a calming breath before turning his eyes heavenward. "Haven't you learned anything after taking a certain peach?" He sighed in irritation. "Honestly, you'll be the death of me." His eyes strayed from her face to her hand, brows furrowing deeply as he did so. "...You're bleeding."

"I'm what?" Sarah looked down at her hand, and her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. "Whoah! How am I bleeding this much?

Sure enough there were rivers of blood flowing down her finger onto the grass. How had so much blood come from such a tiny prick? How had she not noticed or even _felt _this earlier? Jareth grabbed Sarah's wrist and brought it closer to his face for closer inspection. His glove was now dripping in her blood as well but he seemed to take no notice of this. He promptly brought her finger into his mouth. Sarah's eyes widened at his nonchalant move.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sarah asked, attempting to withdraw her hand but Jareth kept a tight grip on it. A moment later, he removed her finger from his mouth and tore at the hem of his shirt, exposing the hard lines and dips of his narrow hips as he did so. Sarah immediately averted her gaze as Jareth began expertly wrapping her finger up in the tattered cloth. She stood there awkwardly as she watched him work. She glanced behind her at Hoggle who looked extremely nervous; like he wished to be anywhere else but there at the moment. She hesitantly turned back to face Jareth, opening her mouth to _attempt- _and she used that word very loosely- to thank him but he cut her off once again.

"You are not to speak to Mizumi or accept anything from her from now on under any circumstance." Jareth tied a knot to secure the makeshift bandage. "Not from her, not from anyone else. Am I understood?"

Sarah snatched her hand back, looking away as she cradled it tenderly against her chest. "You don't need to tell me twice after this _wonderful_ experience," she muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm.

I'm going to have to have a talk with Ignaceous." Jareth turned to walk off but halted for a moment, before glancing over his shoulder at Sarah. "I must speak with you as well...come into my office tonight. Oh and one more thing." He sauntered up to her purposefully, and promptly ripped his vest off of her. Sara yelped in surprise when her ankles were drawn out from under her and Jareth's boots were yanked off. Jareth smirked as he took both in hand. "Count yourself fortunate. Next time, I will completely strip you of my garments should I ever catch you wearing them again. No matter the place, no matter who's watching. Clear?"

Sarah scowled at him as she got her feet. "Crystal. As for meeting you tonight, what if I can't find time for you?"

"_Make_ time."

With that, Jareth disapparated leaving a disgruntled Sarah and a very uncomfortable Hoggle behind.

* * *

Once time had drawn closer to nightfall, Sarah couldn't help but feel anxious as she paced back and forth in front of her bed. What could he possibly want to discuss with her of all people? Sarah ground her teeth together. He probably just wanted to tease her some more, and gloat about how she still hadn't found the first object. She was trying dag nab it! She faced the chart she had tucked into the corner of her mirror. She had written down the precise words of the riddle given to her as well as her predictions on what the object might be. She sat in front of her mirror and pulled the drawer open. She held the journal with one hand, while the fingers of her free hand skimmed across its surface.

She didn't know if it would offer any clues to finding the magical object, but having it always near put her at ease for some reason. She was half way into the heroine's life that seemed to be filled with so much despair, and Sarah had yet to figure out just what the ending to her story could be. Her finger drifted over the surface of the drifted over the sides of the brown leather journal. If ever there was a story born to be told to the world it was this one. But the love between the heroine and her king was too beautiful, too secret to be shared. Whenever Sarah did get a chance to continue reading their story; she would feel guilty all over again for reading someones' most private thoughts. Her finger lightly traced the edges of the emerald leaves, the crystal drops of dew as well as the intertwined silver rings on top of them.

They felt warm to the touch almost as if they were truly real. Sarah hugged the journal to her chest and closed her eyes. It made her feel as if she wasn't all alone here in Jareth's castle. Sure she had Hoggle, Didymus and the rest of the goblins she was performing with, but she could only see them so often and Ignaceous was hardly the best...or most trustworthy of company. Sarah sighed. Female company, that's what she needed. It felt like ages ago since she had spoken to her friends from the Aboveground. She remembered how abrupt their goodbyes had to be since her dad had pulled her out of school during lunch to catch their flight to London. She had hugged each of them and promised to keep in touch. Looked like she wouldn't be able to do even that now.

Sarah sighed as she glanced at her glass balcony doors. The sky was dark with just the barest hints of cobalt blue, peach and violet light fading away into the horizon. She decided to change out of Jareth's clothes to a bright green and yellow flannel shirt with skinny jeans. She slipped her shoes on, and was about to head out the door when she suddenly thought of something better. With her thumb rubbing against her moon stone ring, she tried to picture Jareth's office. After a few uncertain moments, the moon stone glowed dimly and transported her to her destination. With a burst of light, Sarah appeared at her intended location, albeit clumsily and fell hard to the floor. She winced upon impact, preparing herself for the expected onslaught of laughter but it never came. Sarah sat up on her haunches and discovered that the office was empty.

"What gives? _He's_ the one who told me to meet him here," Sarah muttered.

She got to her feet, trying to flatten down her hair as she walked over to Jareth's shelf. It was just how remembered it from last time; decorated with many strange and wonderous ornaments. There were some made of wood, metal, stone and even gem. The one that drew Sarah's immediate attention was an emerald orb with a pearl swan trapped inside it. She picked it up carefully, cupping it in both hands as she did so. It was very light and cool to the touch. She peered closer at it when she caught a hint of movement inside. Sure enough, the swan was arching its graceful white neck, before it dived into the _'green pond'_. Sarah smiled, completely enthralled with the curious little object.

She set it down after a moment and picked up another ornament. It was a tiny statuette of a baby in a woven basket that was made entirely of marble. The baby's face was peaceful with it fists clenched at its sides. The expression on it was frighteningly life-like down to the last laugh line. It literally fit into the palm of her hand, feeling as small and fragile as a real baby would have been. Sarah's heart pulled in two as she suddenly thought of Toby. She closed her eyes and willed herself not to cry at the memory of Toby's face full of agony as Sarah was forced to leave him.

Cradling the baby in one hand to her chest, Sarah moved from the shelf of ornaments to Jareth's collection of books. She ran her free hand over the large spines of the leather bound books. She was surprised to find that there were even Aboveground books mixed with fae books. Sarah momentarily put the baby statuette down so that she could flip through one of them. Her brows furrowed when she saw it was written in an unrecognizable language. Placing the book back in its place, Sarah turned her back on the shelves to face the water painting hanging opposite of them. She vividly recalled seeing it the last time she had paid a visit to Jareth's office. The lake spread out in endless ripples with a few unicorns here and there taking a sip from it.

Sarah could make out a green-haired nymph darting in and out of the trees in a white make-shift gown. She appeared from behind a tree, looking shy as she stared back at Sarah. Her cheeks turned bright red as she ran back through the brush, the ribbons of her gown fluttering in the breeze. She had reached the edge of the lake, and with one last look over her shoulder at Sarah, she dived right in. Strangely enough, her dive had barely caused more than a ripple of disturbance over the surface of the lake. Sarah raised an eyebrow at this and stepped closer when she saw the nymph never rose up again after that. She brushed her fingertips against the painting, admiring its texture, and gasped softly when she saw the image fading away only to be replaced by an all too familiar situation. Her face twisted in surprise when she saw her own family sitting together for dinner.

The taunting vision playing before her was of Robert and Irene chattering happily away about something or other while Toby was busy gobbling up his food like it was going out of style. Her eyes were now fixed on the empty chair where she had always sat next to Toby, and had either helped him eat his food more neatly or offered helpings off of her own plate when she had gotten too full. Her heart constricted at the happy sight in front of her. She knew she shouldn't be feeling this way. She knew that the only reason they didn't remember her was because of Jareth's enchantment, and yet she couldn't hold back sudden wave of sadness that fought to overcome her. Sarah had always doubted her place within her family; always thought that the three of them alone would make the perfect family without her. Before she realized it, her salty stream was rapidly being filled to the brim.

"What the seven hells are you doing?"

Sarah snapped out of it, stepping away from the painting and saw the image of her family disappearing. After a moment, the painting returned to the water nymph darting from tree to tree with the unicorns drinking from the lake. She took a moment to recompose herself; blinking back tears and trying to control her irregular breathing. She turned around hesitantly as she stared back at Jareth who was giving her a questioning look. Before she could think up an excuse for herself, Jareth chose to speak up first.

"Ah, I see you've discovered the _Narcissus_ painting." Jareth strode over toward it. "I'm sure you've discovered its use after witnessing its abilities firsthand."

"Is it..." Sarah started, frowning when her voice cracked. "Is it supposed to show you what you want to see the most?"

"A part of it is except you are in no danger of being poisoned this time, precious." Jareth gave her a severe look as he said this. "Not everything it shows you is always the truth," he said, staring at her from the corner of his eye. "Sometimes it only shows you things your heart manifests itself to believe."

Sarah's eyes widened as she stared back at him. So that wasn't real then? The question hung on her lips, but instead of asking, she turned away from Jareth and the painting. A part of her was scared the image would pop up again. It was better to just pretend she never saw it. Of course that was hard to accomplish seeing as Jareth was still talking about it.

"That was your family I saw, was it? I didn't notice your father or step-mother during Samhain, what with the chaos and all, but I must say that you don't look very much like your father."

"Did you look like yours?" Sarah asked defensively, not knowing what else to say.

The man was way too blunt. This was a subject she had long since become very protective over. After Linda left with Jeremy, the Williams family- ever the type for gossip- suspected that Sarah was possibly Jeremy's since she didn't resemble her father at all. Ridiculous. Most of them had never before laid eyes on Jeremy themselves to even have reason to suspect she was his _'love child'_ as so many lovingly put.

Jareth appeared to be seriously considering her question for a moment. "My father...well, yes, I do believe so. According to my mother at least. I've never actually paid much attention to it. Strange though about you and your father, though."

"What is?"

"Most girls tend to look like their fathers."

Sarah glanced around for a distraction. "Are these just for decoration?" she asked, gesturing at the shelf of ornaments.

"Some are but others actually serve a purpose."

Sarah held up the tiny baby statuette. "I'm guessing this one is just for decoration then, right?"

"Actually that one serves a greater purpose than you can imagine." Jareth grinned wickedly, crossing his arms as he observed Sarah from his side of the room. "My mother gave me that when I first ascended the throne. She told me to give it to my intended in hopes of creating a better likelihood of her becoming fertile. Careful!"

Sarah yelped upon learning the truth, instantly dropping the baby statuette before she could help it. Jareth raised his hand out and the baby now hovered in midair. Jareth gently guided it back to its place on the shelf beside the swan encased in emerald. He sighed in exasperation as he waved her over to take a seat. He walked around his desk to sit down on his high-backed chair. Propping his legs on the table, he stared at Sarah who still hadn't moved from her spot. She was still blushing terribly, avoiding his gaze as she clenched the hem of her blouse.

"Come now, Sarah. We have much to discuss."

Sarah hesitantly sank down onto the cushioned chair in front of Jareth's desk. She rested her elbows on the armrests as she waited expectantly for him to tell her whatever he was going to tell her. Jareth did nothing but shift his arms behind his head as he stared thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"Well...?"

"Well, what?"

Sarah groaned. "You just said we had a lot to talk about. Out with it so that I can go to bed already."

Jareth narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't appreciate that tone, Sarah. It would be wise for you to remain silent and let me finish.

"Let you finish _what_?" Sarah asked in exasperation. "You weren't even _saying_ anything."

"Shall I count this as your first offense toward me for not remaining silent when told do?" Jareth asked, his blue and brown irises glowing in a most cross manner. Sarah quieted down, feeling her back bend and shoulders sag. She clasped her hands awkwardly together in her lap as if she didn't really know what to do with herself. Jareth gave her a look of approval at her acquiescence before speaking again. "Like I told you before, I'm in charge of Beltane this time so everything must go according to plan. Not only must you cater to my amusements but also to all of my guests. I expect no funny business from you that night."

Sarah raised an eyebrow impetuously. "In other words, no embarrassing you?" She gave him a withering look. "I'll try not draw too much attention by wearing my flashing neon sign that says 'Look at me! I'm a human!' that night."

"That's an _order_," Jareth ground out, eyes narrowing into slits. "And don't be ridiculous. The fact that you're human is the reason everyone wants to see you."

"I'm not some doll to show off to your little fairy friends. You can forget it, I'm not gonna be some circus freak you parade around the ballroom for your own amusement." Sarah's chest heaved as these words shot out of her mouth like spitfire. "If I don't wish it, I won't come to your stupid party!"

Jareth shot upright from his seat, slapping his gloved hands hard against his desk. In the time it took Sarah to blink, he had reached across the desk between them and hauled Sarah up by the collar of her shirt. She was now at eye-level with him. Her feet were literally hanging in mid-air with her knees digging into the edge of his desk. Jareth pulled her closer so that their foreheads were now touching. Sarah gasped upon contact, staring up at him in a mixture of horror and pain from the chafing of her collar.

"I want you to understand one thing, Sarah," he snarled. "You're not in your world anymore. While you remain in the Underground, you are at my complete mercy. You will do as I say if you ever hope to go home again." Sarah winced, her anger subsiding from the pain. "Do you understand?"

Sarah glared at him. "Let me go."

"Now, why ever would I want to do that?" Jareth narrowed his eyes, bringing his face closer to hers. She could see herself reflected in his mismatched eyes and she just had to turn away. She berated herself for never being able to quite look him straight in the eyes. "Am I hurting you, Sarah?" he asked, a taunting amusement coating his voice.

"Hardly," Sarah scoffed, feeling her face flush at her own lame lie. "I just don't appreciate being manhandled like this. Put me down." Her feet kicked in mid-air and she felt the burning in her cheeks flow into her ears as Jareth stared smugly down at her. "I don't plan on changing my mind so let me just head back to my room."

Jareth glared sharply at her, his hand tightening against her shirt. "Pray tell, what choice do you have when you're in _my_ realm? I call the shots here. Do as I say or I'll-

"You'll what?" Sarah asked breathlessly, jerking her chin up in defiance. "Will you hit me? Go ahead and try it."

Jareth eyes widened a fraction at her suggestion. He looked taken aback, surprised enough that he actually loosened his hold on her. She didn't know what she was doing, trying to purposely provoke the Goblin King of all people. It almost felt like a test of some sort. But testing what? Sarah's mind traveled back earlier when she had seen Jareth with the fae child. She _had_ to figure out whether or not her mind was running away with her and playing tricks. Somehow, though, it felt like she was testing dangerous waters.

"You think you're so strong? Prove it," she spat. Despite her bravado, inner Sarah was screaming at her that she was getting way too ahead of herself. But she couldn't stop now. She had come this far; might as well go the whole distance. "Prove that I'm weaker than you. Bend me to your will like you promised."

"That will come in time." Jareth's voice was full of dark promise. "Now you will do as I say-

"Make me. Just try it. Let's see where the mighty Goblin King's power has gone," Sarah said mockingly. "Where did it go since our final moments together? How did the weakling human defeat the powerful fae in the end? Where did all of your cruelty go? Or is that just for show? Take a good look at the human who you have no power over."

"Enough!" Jareth roared, releasing Sarah suddenly and she landed in a heap on an oriental rug. "First you dare defy a direct order from me then you ask me to strike at you; and now you have the sheer audacity to throw our last encounter back in my face. I have had all that I can take of your nonsense, Sarah!"

He walked around the desk, his cloak billowing dangerously behind him as he stood towering over Sarah. She felt her breath escape her as she stared up at him fearfully, crab-walking quickly away from him until her back hit the wall. Stupid, stupid, she chided herself. She had really gone too far with him this time. Jareth reached her in a few long strides, curling an arm around her waist and hauling her to her feet in one effortless tug. Sarah's hands came in contact with Jareth's chest as she stumbled forward against his grip. She could feel the muscle beneath his sleeve-clad arm coiled tight like a spring. He curled his gloved hand at the back of her head, tiliting it back to force her attention on him. Cold fury swirled in the depths of his etherean orbs.

"Strike, you said? I could do much more than that- I could crush you without thinking twice about it. That's what you think of me, is that right? Is this really your opinion of me, Sarah?" he asked, dipping his head down, beside her ear. "Well, then, I suppose I'll have to keep living up to your expectations then. I'll show you just how _cruel _I can be. It appears I've been far too lenient with you."

Sarah's eyes widened at his words. She pressed her hands flat against his chest to get some distance between then but his grip on her tightened painfully. Sarah winced, burying her face against his chest so he couldn't see her in her moment of weakness. The gloved hand that had been clenched against Sarah's side relaxed; but suddenly she found herself spun around so that her back was now pressed firmly against Jareth's chest.

"Heed my warnings well, Sarah. I don't just simply delight in terrorizing you." Jareth grinned cruelly as he turned them around to face the wall, and a large oval mirror appeared beside the _Narcissus _painting. "Now, isn't this fitting? The villain and the heroine together."

Sarah gasped when she felt Jareth finger the hem of her blouse. Her body turned stiff and she struggled to pull away from his touch.

"What are you doing?" she asked frantically.

"Why, Sarah, I would think it was obvious. I'm a seducer of dreams." He lowered his voice to a sensual whisper. "Now what do you think...a seducer of dreams is _best _at?" Jareth suddenly grabbed Sarah's arms and held them tightly in his grip; his gloved hands slowly sliding down them to hold them away from her body and interlaced his fingers with hers'. "I'm sure Mizumi was kind enough to tell you of the grand title you hold here in the Underground as the Champion of the Labyrinth. Let us see if you possess the _body_ of a warrior that lives up to your reputation," he spat.

It was at that precise moment that Ignaceous chose to walk in through the door. He stared at the ground with a mixture of exhaustion and annoyance. His face was wiped entirely clean of emotion upon seeing Sarah in Jareth's arms. His eyes widened after a moment as they registered the scene unfolding before them.

"Umm..." He started a bit awkwardly, blinking at the flustered Sarah in Jareth's arms. He scratched the back of his neck and glanced away. "I suppose I should have knocked first, I take it?"

The distraction was enough. Sarah slipped out of Jareth's hold and gave him a sounding slap across the face. She didn't stop to glance at either him or Ignaceous as she ran out of the room. Ignaceous stepped slightly out of the threshold in time to see Sarah disapparate herself at the end of the hall. He sighed wearily and turned to follow after her; but a few words from Jareth stopped him in his tracks.

"Let her go.

Ignaceous glanced over his shoulder to find Jareth's neck still frozen in the postion Sarah had left him in like a living statue of some sort.

"Are you sure?"

"Quite certain." Jareth slowly turned his neck to face Ignaceous, a wide warped smile plastered on his face. "I shall accept this as her first offense."

Ignaceous rose an eyebrow. "...You mean to tell me you set her up?"

"Whatever could you mean?" His tone was the definition of innocence.

"I've known you far longer than I would like to admit," Ignaceous said dryly, crossing his arms over his chest and leaned against the open threshold. "As I recall, you were never one to force yourself upon a woman. What're you planning with this one?"

A slow grin played at Jareth's lips. "Sarah brought this on herself. Purposely trying to provoke me, can you imagine that?" He strode across the room with a whirl of his cloak and sat behind his desk once more. "It was merely a warning. Now that she's certain that I'm not one to be trifled with, she'll be sure to be more careful from now on."

"Three offenses was what you said before, is that right? As well as punishments accompanying them?" Ignaceous asked, staring pensively, almost indifferently up at the ceiling.

"Of course. Each one worse than the last."

Ignaceous closed his eyes as if he had a headache and held his hands out. "Am I to understand that she committed her offense _after _you punished her?" Ignaceous had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. "That is the most rid- He caught himself quickly as Jareth shot him a severe look. "I just _mean_," he said, grinding his teeth together, "that I thought the game was supposed to be fair on both parts this time. I don't much about your previous encounter with her, but with what little you did tell me, I concluded that both of you cheated last time. Why would you want to purposely provoke her like that?

Jareth raised a delicate brow. "Why, Ignaceous, I didn't know you cared so much."

"It's not about worrying about either of you. It's much bigger than that." Ignaceous pinched the bridge of nose in irritation. "It's more because I didn't think you'd stoop low enough to cheat when you yourself initiated this challenge. This second meeting wasn't necessary, I think. If she won the first time around, then the game is her victory, is it not?" He narrowed his moss green eyes at Jareth, the gold circle around his eye widening. "You don't gain anything by challenging her again. Do you? I always thought I had you figured out and then you do something like this." He clenched his fists at his side at Jareth's infuriating smirk. "You always have a good reason for everything you do. I just can't understand what it is this time. What are you _really _after? What is that girl's _real_ purpose here?"

"Ignaceous, you know the penalty for striking royalty," Jareth said, completely disregarding his questions. "The game isn't over yet, so giving her a little fright is of little consequence," Jareth said flippantly, turning his back on him as he swung his chair around to face the window. He closed his eyes as he felt the frenzied wind blow against his face. The side of his mouth quirked up slightly. Sarah. Her emotions were still as close to the surface as ever. "Continue to look after her, tell her where she may not wander. She hasn't done any reckless gallivanting around the castle so I assume she'll continue to do so." He sniffed disdainfully, furrowing his winged eyebrows as he did so. "Also you must convince her to attend Beltane. I already told the entire court that she would make an appearance. It would be terribly embarrassing if I don't live up to my promise."

"Is it really such a good idea to introduce her to the Fae Court. That would be like throwing her to the lions...no I think the lions would be much kinder."

Jareth sighed as he rubbed his temples. "You know as well as I do how fast news travels in the Underground. Everyone will be expecting her to be there so there's no helping it."

* * *

Sarah closed her eyes as she leaned her head against her door, panting harshly as if she had just been running a marathon. She had been so stupid. How could she think or even start to believe that maybe Jareth wasn't as bad he seemed? Yet her mind couldn't forget how Jareth had smiled at the girl and had kindly accepted the blue roses from her. What was all that about, anyway? Oh, for goodness sake, she shouldn't be getting personal. This was all just a game to Jareth. Like he said, she was the heroine and he the villain. The story was always set up for the good guy- or in this case- girl to win in the end. It was unheard of for the heroine and the villain to befriend one another. If every story ended like that; fairy tales would no longer exist.

Could she really get through this challenge and expect to be on friendly terms with Jareth and Ignaceous after this whole mess was over? The idea was laughable at best. Sarah sighed. She wasn't completely naiive. If Jareth had his way, he would go out of his way to make trouble for Sarah the rest of her life if he could. Linda had always told her to try to look past peoples' faults and dig deeper. Her advice was rather difficult to follow what with Jareth and Ignaceous' current behavior toward her and others close to her. There was just no way she would start listening to her mother now. Not after everything that had happened. Look what happened when Linda got too personal with her work; she left her family to be with another man and is rarely heard from these days.

Sarah shook her head. She needed to focus on her objective and not let herself get personal. It was just like when she was competing for a role in a play or movie, and had had a friend auditioning for the same part. She couldn't let her attachment to her friend keep her from giving it her all at the audition. From here on out, there was just no room for distractions or weakness. So far, most of her tough fronts came out half-hearted in the end. Why couldn't she be as strong as she felt most of the time? Back there in Jareth's office, she had felt so...words couldn't even begin to describe it. Sarah placed a hand over her trembling heart. She had never allowed anyone to touch her like that. She had never even let her previous boyfriends get past first base.

What exactly was Jareth planning? Despite his past ulterior motives, she doubted that embarrassing her had been his intention toward the end of their meeting. She recalled the look on his face when she had first suggested that Jareth hit her. It was a look of utter bewilderment. Almost as if she had truly offended him. Her face softened for a moment, before it became a blank slate once more. She wouldn't allow herself to be left alone with Jareth again. She must always keep her guard up. Whether she liked it or not, she had to endure staying here for the complete thirteen weeks and find all three magical objects in order to go home.

Home. The image from earlier remained engraved in Sarah's mind and tears prickled at her eyes. She silently slid against the door to the floor as she remembered how happy her family had looked. She knocked the back of her gently against the door as she stared at the ceiling with despair. Sometimes she wondered if maybe she should let things be. Maybe there was a reason why she was brought to the Underground for the second time. Maybe all those years of living in the Aboveground had poisoned her existence. Maybe she didn't belong with humans. Sarah's jaw clenched tightly. Or maybe that's just what Jareth wanted; for her to give up before the game really began. Sarah leaped to her feet as she flipped the switch and light suddenly illuminated her room. She grabbed the chart from her mirror and sat in the middle of the floor with her permanent marker in hand.

The only clues she had so far about the object was that it was magical and very familiar to her. That had to mean that it had something to do with the first time she had come to the Labyrinth. Every object she had come across came flying back into Sarah's memories at lightspeed. She remembered that she had used her lipstick, bracelet and ring to help get her through certain parts of the Labyrinth. She bit her lip. But those weren't magical at all...were they? Sarah scrambled to her feet and reached into her drawer. Sure enough, the tube of lipstick was wedged in the back under her journal of famous quotes of authors, celebrities and famous people throughout history.

She drew a simple horizontal line across her hand and waited for something to happen. Anything. Angrily, she tossed the tube of lipstick against her mirror. It bounced off with a clang and clattered to the floor. It rolled and rolled until it disappeared beneath Sarah's bed. Sarah sighed with frustration. It wouldn't help testing out her bracelet and ring since they were gone now. Hoggle had said he had lost the bracelet somewhere in the Labyrinth while she had given her ring to the Wiseman. But it didn't make sense. Her items should have been magical because in the story, it had said the Goblin King had given her certain powers. Then again, the story had also lied when it had said the Goblin King had fallen in love with the young girl...

Her supposed powers had not come out until the very end...Her power- the power within words. She thought about it carefully as she sank to her knees and reached under her bed for the lipstick. She grabbed it and tucked it back into her drawer. Words. She thought about the riddle, struggling a bit to remember the exact phrasing before grabbing her chart to read aloud off of it.

"_I show your most desperate desires, passions of most wild fires. I'm somewhere dark and decrepit where especially the damned dead have slept," _Sarah read, watching in amazement as her ring started glowing brightly.

That was odd. How come her ring hadn't done that before when she had first recited it to Jareth? It was likely that she _had_ felt the warm sensation during that time as she often did before but had chose to ignore it. The only explanation as to why she hadn't noticed the glowing was maybe because it only glowed when she cast magic and maybe only when the moon itself was out. Carefully considering it, Sarah thought that it made a lot of sense. Since her moon ring was magical, it was very likely that the moon is what gave it its energy; therefore it was only at its strongest at night. She crawled over her to her drawer and produced her journal of famous quotes. She laid down on her stomach on the floor and flipped to the page she had bookmarked and read the first line out out loud.

_"Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men." _Sarah felt a jolt course through her as deja vu washed over her in tidal waves. The fuzzy sensation of warmth emmitted from her moon stone. She glanced down and saw that it was glowing brightly for a moment before the light died down. It must have reacted to one of the words in the quote; either dream, power or hearts.

"Dream," Sarah murmured and the light shone dimly from within the moon stone. She tried again. "Power." It glowed dimly once more. "Hearts." The same reaction all over again occurred. She sighed. "Dream, power, hearts," she said quickly and this time the moon stone glowed brightly.

Sarah squealed with delight. She jolted upright to sit indian-style on the floor with her chart in front of her. She wrote down dream, power and hearts, and watched in amazements as the words slowly started rearranging themselves across the paper. It was almost like they were confused as to where they should go. Sarah grinned. Maybe this was the key. Maybe this wouldn't help her solve all three riddles but it looked like it was on its way of helping her solve the first one. She tried reading another quote from her journal, her hands gripping it tightly and eyes devouring the words like her very life depended on it. In a way, it practically did.

It looked like she would be losing sleep. She had hundreds of pages of quotes to go. So many words and so little hours in the night, before she had to wake up to handle Ignaceous' magic lessons, directing the play and tolerating Jareth's cruel treatment and arrogance. Sarah's face twisted angrily at the thought of him. She shook her head to clear her thoughts as she returned to the matter at hand. She flipped haphazardly through her journal, reading each page as she did so. Her ring would respond to a few here and there but it wouldn't respond for several pages for a while. Now it looked like _Snow White _wouldn't be getting any sleep for a long time.

* * *

The moon hovered high in the diamond scattered sky; glowing the purest of white as it cast its moon beams down to Toby to lend him its light. It made the surface of the moss-covered walls that Toby leaned against shimmer. He had his back flat against it, eyes shut and arms dangling loosely at his sides as he tried to get his breathing back to normal. His dirty blonde curls flopped into his eyes with each breath he took. He didn't even have enough energy left to brush them away. He had ran as long as he could, and he hadn't gotten any closer to reaching the castle beyong the Goblin City. It was no use. The path seemed to only head straight. He had considered climbing up the wall, but decided he would only do that when he had reached the point beyond desperation.

Also because it was cheating, and he honestly didn't fancy the idea of angering the Goblin King not after what Sarah had told Toby of her experience with the Cleaner. A howling in the distance made Toby nearly jump out of his skin. He couldn't afford to stay in one place for too long. It wouldn't do himself any good if he got eaten before he had even gotten through half of the Labyrinth. Toby continued to walk onward, but despite his notion to continue walking, he was feeling unbearably tired. Perhaps this is what Ignaceous had been talking about before. About how his body would be at odds with his mind. It was probably night time in his world as well and his child's mind was catching up with him.

He was always in bed by eight o'clock sharp. He figured it must have been way past eight in the Aboveground by now. Toby felt so tired and strangely hungry. He had only eaten lunch earlier; he was really kicking himself not for not having had enough sense to bring a knapsack of food along with him. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he glanced around to see if maybe there was some kind of fruit or something lying around. All he saw was straggly weeds and vines growing from the cracks in between the walls and dirt surrounding him. Toby pouted, kicking the dirt lightly with his bare toe. He lifted his head up wearily when he felt the atmosphere suddenly get extremely warm, the way it only did before a storm. Wonderful. It seemed like he would likely get caught in the rain, seeing as there was no where among these walls for him to take shelter.

Toby's eyes widened when he saw a strange silver fog rapidly appoaching like a large nimbus come to life. He couldn't see anywhere behind or in front of him. His hand immediately flew to the handguard of his sword, inching its way out of its sheath with the tip of his thumb. He glanced everywhere around him haphazardly, feeling his heart tremble with anxiety. Up ahead, he made out the silouhette of a small figure coming closer. Toby grit his teeth and stood his ground as he managed to get the rest of his sword out without making a sound. His eyes widened and face fell when he saw the threat was actually a girl that looked about six. Though, truth be told, he could barely hide his relief.

Half of her face was curtained by her fluttery pink hair that ended in curls just below her shoulders. Her eyes were purple lavender; pupils slightly larger than average with skin white as new millk. Pointed elfen ears protruded from either side of her head. She was dressed in a periwinkle taffeta gown with sheer puffed-sleeves that ended below her knees. She was barefooted just like Toby, revealing a silver horned symbol with a strange-looking symbol on her left outer ankle. The girl stared up at him the same way his mother would when she saw he was doing something she deeply disapproved of.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" she asked, her voice reminding Toby of the tinkling of bells. Except not quite as annoying. He had always found wind chimes annoying.

Toby blinked before frowning. "I go to sleep when I feel like it," he said haughtily even thought it was the exact opposite.

The girl stared at him condescendingly. "You're not fooling anyone with that appearance. Inside you're still only a little boy."

"Right now I'm grown up," Toby said, sniffing disdainfully down at the girl who didn't even reach his waist. "And you're not so much older than me in reality, anyway."

"Centuries in fact," she chirped primly.

"Whatever. Out of the way. I have somewhere I need to be."

Toby put his hand on her shoulder and moved her aside not as gently as he had intended and continued walking. The girl was now walking beside him to Toby's annoyance, having a bit of trouble matching his long strides. Her dainty steps barely made a sound agains the sandy ground.

"I can't leave until I see that you've fallen asleep."

"What do you care?"

"I'm Ainsel. I'm a child fae that comes to children who refuse to fall asleep. I'll only leave once you fall asleep."

Toby rolled his eyes. "I can't possibly think of sleeping right now. The Goblin King has my sister. And even if I wanted to sleep, there's no where to lie down."

Ainsel glanced around her inquisitively. "You have plenty of resources at your disposal. Make yourself a human-sized nest."

"Like I'd do that."

"Don't tell me you're too much of a princess to sleep on the ground." Ainsel tutted as she shook her head, her curls lightly hitting her cheeks. "The fae can sleep anywhere even the hollow of a tree." She gestured her arms vaguely around her. "If I can make a nest for myself each night here so can you."

Toby raised an eyebrow. "You actually _sleep_ in the Labyrinth?"

"It's not as though I have a choice. I am a Guardian, after all. Jareth gave me this task himself."

Toby perked up at this. "Wait, so if you work for him then that must mean you know your way around the Labyrinth, right?" Toby asked, unable to hide his eagerness. "Show me the way...uhh please." He gave an awkward bow at the waist, not entirely sure of how these things worked in the Underground. "I'll be willing to trade something if you lead me there."

"I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. My job is to make sure you never make it to the castle beyond the Goblin City," Ainsel said carelessly. She twisted her arms behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her heels, her graceful neck tipped up as she watched the moon. "By distracting you and whatnot. Whether I'm trying to distract you or not right now doesn't matter. The truth is I won't be able to leave until you fall asleep."

"My sister-

Ainsel rose a hand to silence him. "Can wait. You'll only be wasting your energy if you continue the way you are now. Rest for the night. Sleep today, fight your battles tomorrow as my mother always tells my brother."

Toby scrunched up his face with distaste. He sheathed his sword and glanced around him, trying to collect as many branches and vines as he could. He managed to tie a whole bunch together to create a sort-of oblong nest with a roof over it. It was very crudely made but it would have to do. Toby tipped his chin up to look at the sky that looked like it would be ready to pour any second now. He just had to throw away his cloak, hadn't he? Toby felt so incredibly stupid right now. Maybe the next time he met up with Ignaceous, he could ask him to give him another cloak. He turned his face from the sky and started working on a roof for his nest-like shelter. The whole time he felt Ainsel's eyes on him. It was unnerving to say the least. Half-way through building his nest, he angrily whirled around to face the fae girl.

"_What?_ What do you want?"

Ainsel frowned. "You keep forgetting that I can't leave until you fall asleep. I wouldn't stick around with someone rude like you if I really had the choice, you know?"

Toby gave her a dry look. "I'll go to sleep soon. Just go away." He stood in front of her, towering over her small body. In the back of his mind, he hoped this would intimidate her into leaving. "I can't work with someone hovering over me every second."

"Very well then."

Ainsel picked up the hem of her dress, and walked toward the wall opposite of Toby. She sat down on her knees with her skirts splayed out all around her. She had hands clasped together on her lap as she stared up at the sky, a thoughtful look on her face. Toby glanced behind him every now and then as he worked on his shelter, but each time she was either staring up at the sky or fiddling with the hem of her gown. He'd never gotten along with girls back in his world, and he doubted that that would happen in this world. He finished the roof of his nest and just prayed it wouldn't collapse on him in the middle of the night. He wasn't even sure if he'd be able to sleep at night what with monsters lurking at every corner. He hadn't actually seen one yet; but just the thought of one was enough to have Toby quaking in fear all over again.

Toby climbed into his nest and curled his knees up to his chest. He was always used to sleeping this way. It made him feel the safest, especially on nights when his parents wouldn't let him climb into their bed after a nightmare. Toby shook himself from his thoughts. He shouldn't be thinking about that. He was a man now. Men didn't get scared of the dark or anything like that. It was better to face his own darkness now than fail when he did become a real man. He turned on his side with his back facing Ainsel, hoping to convince her that sleep had taken over him. He stiffened up when he heard the rustling of clothing, presumably Ainsel coming toward him. Branches scraped against the ground, and he guessed Ainsel was now sitting next to him.

"If you're having trouble sleeping. I could always tell you a story," she suggested. "I'm not just a Guardian, I'm also a master story-teller. Fae and mortal children alike love my stories."

This had grabbed Toby's attention. The only person who had ever told him stories before was Sarah. There was his mother but she only ever fed him weenie stories like _Hansel and Gretel_ or _Little Red Riding Hood_. It was too disappointing for him to find out that the witch got burned and the wolf didn't get his meal in the end. She had read him so many stories that he knew them all by heart now, but he always loved the way his sister told them to him. Even though Sarah always told him she hadn't come up with any of the stories like Pe_ter Pan_ and the _Wizard of Oz_, he still felt like they belonged to Sarah in some way. He slowly glanced at Ainsel over his shoulder. She stood with her hands clasped in front of her, looking expectantly down at him.

"What kind of story?"

Ainsel shrugged. "All kinds." When Toby didn't offer any requests as she thought he would, she placed a pensive finger to her chin. "Normally little children like to hear the Ainsel story."

Toby guffawed in disbelief, almost scoffingly. "There's a story about _you_?"

"Yes, I could tell you if you'd like."

"Sure, I guess." Toby half-shrugged, seeing no other options.

Ainsel cleared her throat and placed the pads of her fingertips tenderly at the base of her throat before starting. "There was once a boy and his mother who lived in a cottage. One winter's eve, the child refused to go to bed. His mother warned him that fairies would come take him away. The boy merely laughed as his mother left to go to bed. He had not been long by the fire, watching it and enjoying its warmth, when suddenly a beautiful little figure about the size of a doll descended the chimney and alighted the hearth." As Ainsel said this, Toby noticed how enthralled she was becoming by telling her own tale. The way her eyes lit up reminded him of how excited Sarah would get during certain parts of a story. The thought made Toby smile as he continued to listen to Ainsel's story.

"The little fellow was startled at first but his curiosity ovecame his fear and he inquired familiarly, _'What do they ca' though?_' _'Ainsel'_ replied the fairy girl. The boy thought to himself how odd that her named meant _'ownself' _but chose not to comment on it. Instead, he mischievously decided to tell her his name was _'My Ainsel'." _Ainsel frowned, sucking in her cheeks like she had found this part rather sour and distasteful.

Toby bit his lip, trying hard not to laugh at her expression. He tried to pass it off as a cough behind his hand when Ainsel glanced sharply up at him.

"Ainsel, huh? That kind of reminds me of _The Odyssey_," Toby said, turning to lie on his back. He could make out the stars above through cracks of his make-shift roof. It wouldn't be long now before it started raining.

"The...Odyssey?" Ainsel frowned softly, cocking her head to the side. Toby thought that that was the first child-like gesture he had seen her make since he had first met her almost an hour ago. "A mortal story? What happened in _The Odyssey_?"

"Uhh...it's something pretty close to what I'm sure if gonna happen in your story."

Ainsel stared down at her lap and nodded, looking somewhat disappointed. "I suppose I shouldn't continue if you already know what's going to happen."

"What? No, go on with the story." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, flicking his eyes back to the ceiling when his eyes met Ainsel's. "It doesn't matter if it's predictable or not, a story is a story." He bit his lip, scowling as he pushed his unruly curls out of his face. "Mom did always say I had the habit of putting my foot in my mouth."

"Your foot...in your mouth?" Ainsel grinned before she broke out into full-blown laughter. "You're funny!"

Toby looked at her like she had gone insane. "It's just an expression." He sat up with his back against the wall with his knees drawn up to his chest. He wrapped his arms around himself, feeling a slight chill in the air. "You fairies really take everything literally here, don'tcha?"

Ainsel glared at him. "I don't know that much about human customs. Do you want me to finish the story or not?"

"Alright, alright. Don't have a cow." At this, he received another confused expression that turned to a barely controlled grin. "It's another expression, get over it." He found himself grinning with her none-the-less. "Okay, go on with the story." He paused for a moment, and as an after thought said, "Sorry, I interrupted."

Ainsel seemed pleased with this and inched closer, clearing her throat as she started once more. "So then they both commenced playing together as newly acquainted children. Their innocent games continued until the fire began to glow dim. The boy used the poker to get it going again, and a hot cinder fell upon the foot of Ainsel. Her tiny voice rose to a horrific roar, and the boy scarcely had time to crouch behind the bed, before the voice of Ainsel's mother coming down the chimney was heard shouting, _'Who's done it? Who's done it?' 'Oh! It was my ainsel!'_ cried the daughter." She paused when she heard Toby laughing, the skin around his eyes crinkling with amusement. "_'Why, then,'_ said the mother as she kicked her daughter up the chimney,_ 'What's all this noise for? There's no one here to blame!'"_

Toby chuckled. "Did she really kick you up the chimney?"

"Yes..." Ainsel said, wincing upon memory. She tucked a stray strand of her bubblegum pink hair behind her ear. "My mother is a very frightening creature. She doesn't take to being lied to or getting riled up over nothing very well."

"That bad, huh?" Toby shot her a look of sympathy. "My mom's not much better."

"Would you..." The fairy girl looked shy all of a sudden. "Would you mind telling me the story of _The Odyssey_?"

Toby looked hesitant. "It's an awfully long story. And aren't you supposed to be doing your Guardian-whatever-crap?"

"I am." Ainsel twiddled with her thumbs, pursing her lips as she stared at her lap. "But one more story shouldn't hurt, I think. I'm supposed to be making sure you go to sleep...but I don't think I really matters how long that takes."

Before Toby could answer, heavy rain began falling over them and pelting them relentlessly. Lightning cut through the sky like a sharp knife, and thunder followed soon after; emitting a monstrous roar that made Toby tremble all over. Toby's mouth clamped down on his hand to keep himself from crying out. The pain was excruciating it, but he couldn't trust himself to let go. He would start bawling like the four-year old he was and in front of a _girl _no less if he didn't get something to lodge his quivering mouth with. He opened his eyes to find Ainsel crouched in front of him, her wet hair matted all around her face.

"It's rude to leave a girl out in the rain. You should have invited me under your shelter sooner." Ainsel conjured up two blankets and proceeded to wrap herself up in one. She glanced up at Toby as she sat next to him, holding the other blanket out to him. "Here. You must be freezing." Her eyes furrowed suspiciously when she saw Toby looking pointedly away from her, his back stiffening up again at the sound of the thunder. She opened her mouth to say something but seemed to think better of it. "...You said The Odyssey was a long story? There's something you don't know, though." She scooted closer to Toby, placing her hand over his shaky larger one. "I'm a fae child. I _love_ long stories." She smiled tenderly up at him. "Please tell me _The Odyssey_ to get our minds off the rain. I promise I'll be gone by morning if you do."

Toby slowly removed his mouth from his hand, hoping his tears were hidden well in the darkness. "Promise?" he asked quietly. Though, truth be told, he didn't find her as annoying as he did earlier.

"Promise."

Toby wrapped the blanket around himself and pressed his back flat against the wall. He wrinkled his nose when he felt rain sprinkle him through cracks of his shelter.

"Okay." He sighed, closing his eyes. He moved his hand away from Ainsel's and clenched both fists into his lap as he steeled himself up for the story. "The story begins with the Greek hero Odysseus and his long journey home after the fall of Troy..."

**A/N: Plz R/R. If I just keep getting pure Story Alerts, Author Alerts and Favorites, I might just discontinue this story altogether. I need real feedback to see if I'm doing alright with these chapters. **Wow, this is over thirty-five pages long on Microsoft Word! Not my best chapter I'm afraid. I had to keep reminding myself that this is only my fourth chapter and that I need to slow down with the development. I went through scenes like handkerchiefs until I finally settled on something...real. Something believable. By the way, the story that Ainsel was telling Toby is based on an actual myth I found in case anyone was wondering. Also the reason why she doesn't know of _The Odyssey _even though she's been around centuries will be revealed in the next chapter. Btw, the symbol on her ankle is same as Jareth's amulet, though, I'm sure most of you guessed it. Also, the play that Sarah and the goblins will be performing will mostly be based on the original Grim Brothers version with my own twist added to it, not the Disney one.

This chapter was called Snow White's Awakening because of Sarah's discovery of Jareth and Ignaceous kinder sides. Also because of Sarah's new soldified determination to solve the three riddles. I'm sure you guys noticed the parallelisms I did on Snow White in this chapter, more specifically during the part where Mizumi tried to poision Sarah. :P Yes, I know Hoggle is Snow White in this story. Sarah represents Snow White in spirit since they're both kind and loved by their _'dwarfs'_, and because they now both have someone who envies them enough to try to kill them. Hope you guys liked this chapter. I already started writing the fifth chapter; it's called _Unbreakable Bonds_ for now.

Alright, since I've kept you guys waiting longer than usual, I'll reveal some things about the next chapter. In chapter five, Jareth's mom is going to pop in for a visit to help Jareth with preparations for Beltane. Will she like or loathe Sarah? This chapter is mostly centered on Sarah and Toby's strong sibling bond, but it also has plenty of swoon-worthy moments with our favorite couple Jareth and Sarah. No need to worry about that. Toby also faces off against his first monster. I wish I could give you guys a preview of my next chapter, I really wish I could, but honestly I'm not all that satisfied with it yet. Though, I think I'll start giving previews of my next chapter from now on starting on chapter five since you guys are so great. **Plz R/R and I promise I'll do my best to upload as soon as possible. Remember, you guys are the only things motivating me to continue with this story.**


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